Am I a Demon?
by FlamezofDoom
Summary: Kagome is accidently turned into a half demon but only transforms at night.The demon half of her is threatening to consume her whole while demons are starting to find her irresistible. But the situation soon turns dangerous when jealousy arises.
1. Default Chapter

Am I a demon?  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own it. Stop rubbing it in! *Grumbles* I don't own the song Am I a Demon by Danzig  
  
Flamez: This is my first Inu fanfic. So be gentle. I always appreciate constructive criticism. I do not like having my weapons of doom being used on me so please no flames.  
  
Summary: While in his full demon form, Inuyasha accidentally turns Kagome into a half demon. But she only transforms at night, so nothing to worry about, right? Wrong! The demon half of her is threatening to consume her whole while demons are starting to find her irresistible. It starts out harmless but situation soon turns dangerous when jealously rears its ugly head. Could be a Kag/Inu, Kag/Kou, Kag/Ses, or Kag/ and any other demon I send her way to mess things up. (maybe even a crossover hint hint!)  
  
Chapter one-I'M A WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?  
  
Inuyasha panted with the excitement of the last kill. He looked around for his next victim. Kagome backed up, she did NOT like Inuyasha in his full demon form. Lately he's been slipping into his demon form when ever he felt slightly in danger. He was dangerous now and she wasn't too sure she wanted to stick around to be ripped to bits. She glanced at Miroku nervously, he gave her a look that said to keep calm but she didn't know if she could.  
  
Inuyasha turned to look at what moved. A human girl, she looked familiar.What did that matter? All that mattered now was the taste of blood. He bared his teeth and jumped at her, sinking his pearly fangs into her porcelain skin. Kagome's screams of pain seemed to bring him back to reality. He pushed her away with his bloody hands. What had he done? Kagome. She looked at him with such hurt it shattered his heart. He had only seen the look once before.  
  
He picked her up gently and leaped into the forest. Sango stepped forward. "Should we go after them?"  
  
Miroku shook his head. "She is safe now. We should get some rest and they'll find us in the morning."  
  
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Kagome tried to roll over but she was being weighed down. She opened her eyes to find herself in a cave, in Inuyasha's arms. She leaped up and kicked him in his side. Inuyasha opened his eyes and frowned up at her. "Ow, what was that for?"  
  
"That's for biting me!"  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"Last night you bit me!"  
  
"All I remember is killing that snake demon, and nothing else."  
  
"Oh yeah? Well look at this." She rolled up her sleeve to show him the bite mark but all that was there was a red stripe.  
  
"Yeah, so?"  
  
"I don't know what this is but it's your fault!"  
  
He rolled his eyes. "Whatever."  
  
Kagome huffed and stomped out the cave. How dare he?! He bit her then 'forgot' all about it. Then a red stripe appeared out of nowhere and he didn't care! She walked down the edge of the cliff and into the forest. She didn't know where she was going but didn't care. If it was far away from Inuyasha it was where she wanted to be.  
  
Inuyasha sat on the edge of the cliff. He supposed he should go after her. He sighed, he really didn't feel like it but a part of him said she would be pissed if he did a least pretend he cared she had left. If he didn't she would go back to her time period and he would be forced to go find her.blah, blah, blah. Too much of a hassle. He leaped into the forest, picking up on her scent.  
  
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Kagome ran through the woods, noting that it was nearing the evening, the breeze on her face was refreshing. The branches slapping at her legs and torso kept her grounded. She stopped when she came to a clearing. She jumped into the clear water with out a second of hesitation. After swimming around a little, she crawled out onto the bank and closed her eyes. Before she knew it she fell asleep.  
  
"Who are you?" He snarled.  
  
She opened her eyes. "Kouga, you know who I am."  
  
He picked her up by her collar. "Correction, I know Kagome. You don't smell like her, who are you? Answer quickly before I kill you."  
  
"Wait, I can prove I'm Kagome. Inuyasha is coming, I know because of the jewel shard. Just count down from five and he'll be here."  
  
He looked at her skeptically but counted. "Five, four, three, two, one-"  
  
"Put her down you filthy wolf."  
  
"Don't tell me what to do you dumb dog." Kouga's grip eased a little. He looked down in her eyes, searching for something. He seemed to have found what he was looking for because he set her down on her feet. "What did you do to her?"  
  
Inuyasha crossed his arms. "I didn't do anything to her."  
  
"She smells different. Kinda like you." His eyes went from suspicious to frantic and she grabbed her hair and yanked her head back. "Kagome, did you let that puppy mark you?!"  
  
The 'puppy' in question choked. "Like hell I'd want to be stuck with her forever!"  
  
Kouga let go of her hair and sniffed at her. "Then why does she smell like you."  
  
He crossed his arms. "Because I had to carry her for a whole day. Are you satisfied?"  
  
Kagome pushed him away and started running back through the woods. They both caught up with her instantly. She stopped. "Can't I have a moment of peace?" She was tired. She had been bitten, questioned, accused, assaulted, sniffed, and now on top of everything else, followed. She was so frustrated, she was on the brink of tears.  
  
Kouga stepped forward hesitantly. "My apologies, I thought you were an impostor."  
  
She crossed her arms. "Yeah, sure. I'll except your apology because this must happen to me EVERY DAY!! There's nothing UNUSUAL about being thought to be an impostor. Don't worry about it!"  
  
Inuyasha landed on a branch above them. "And in case you don't know, she was being sarcastic."  
  
She glared at him. "Sit!"  
  
He fell face first into the dirt. "Ow what was that for?!"  
  
"That's for not feeling sorry about what you did to me! Jerk!" She turned on her heel and marched off only to stop when an annoying pain emerged from her cheek. She smacked her cheek, a reflex she had developed. She looked down at her hand to see the flattened flea slide off her palm.  
  
The flea in question, looked up at her his face contorted with horror. "Kagome, your blood..!"  
  
She panicked. "What? What about my blood?! What's wrong with it?!"  
  
He looked at her in slight disbelief. "You're blood is that of a half demon."  
  
Inuyasha scowled. "That's impossible! I would have smelled it."  
  
"She's not half demon now, but her blood is undoubtedly hanyou."  
  
Kouga nodded. "I thought she smelled different but I couldn't place it because it was so faint." 'Come to think of it, she smells REALLY good, better than usual..'  
  
Kagome sank to her knees, a ghostly white. A half demon, like her life wasn't complicated enough! She took off running. Her tears ran off the side of her face. No, no, no! This couldn't be happening. She examined herself, she looked normal enough, Then why did he say those things?  
  
Am I human  
  
She sat on a log near the river. Maybe being half demon wouldn't be so bad. She would be strong enough to take care of herself. And Inuyasha wouldn't be distracted anymore during battles. Inuyasha.  
  
-{flashback}- Yura: "Half demon, half power." Sesshomaru: ".filthy blooded half demon." Villagers: "Why should we trust him? He's a demon!" -{End}-  
  
Kagome cried harder. For herself and Inuyasha. His life must have been horrible! If she was a half demon everyone would fear her and shun her. Is that the life she wanted? Is that the life she could live with?  
  
Am I just like you  
  
"Kagome?"  
  
She sniffed. "I don't want to talk to you, Inuyasha. I'm still mad at you!" She said half heartedly.  
  
He sat down next to her. "Is what that flea said true?"  
  
"I don't know. I don't know what to think anymore!" She cried on his shoulder. He shifted, uncomfortably. 'Oh great, she's crying!' Awkwardly he wrapped his arms around her and patted her back. "I never should have came through that stupid well! I should be in my own time, where I belong!"  
  
Inuyasha stiffened. "You belong here, helping me with find the shards and nowhere else." She didn't know whether to be offended or flattered so she said nothing.  
  
After a while, she started to pull away. "Maybe it would be best if I went back to my time. You know, just to think."  
  
He held her at arms length. "You can think here."  
  
Seeing the determinedness in his eyes she sighed. "Okay, maybe it would be safer if I stay here."  
  
"Glad you see it my way."  
  
Kagome stood. "I'm going to go tell Sango and Miroku."  
  
"Feh. Whatever." It took him a few minutes to realize she was going in the direction opposite of their scents.  
  
Once out of his view she broke out in a run. "Kouga?" She whispered hoping that a certain half dog demon wouldn't overhear. "Kouga?"  
  
He appeared next to her. "What's wrong?"  
  
"I need you to take me to the dry well."  
  
"Why?"  
  
She gave him her biggest puppy dog eyes and pouted. "Please."  
  
He broke down and nodded. She climbed onto his back where he locked her into place with his arms before he took off. Kouga stopped immediately in front of the well and a very pissed off Inuyasha.  
  
He eyed them angrily. "Where do you think you're goin'?"  
  
She stuck her nose in the air stubbornly. "Goodbye, Inuyasha, I'm going home."  
  
"You ain't goin' nowhere."  
  
"Just get out of my way before I'd be forced to hurt you."  
  
"Ha! Like you could harm me!"  
  
Her eyes narrowed until they were slits. "Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit!" He fell forward into the dirt. She moved to slide off of Kouga's back only to find she couldn't move. "Um, Kouga? You can let go now." His grip tightened. 'She smells REALLY REALLY REALLY good.' "Okay, Kouga I need to go. You're starting to freak me out here!"  
  
He let go reluctantly. "Sorry."  
  
Inuyasha groaned and struggled to his feet. He opened mouth to say something but stopped. His pupils dilated and he took off running. Kouga frowned "What's wrong with him?"  
  
Kagome looked up at the sky. 'Oh no, the new moon is tonight! I have to get rid of Kouga!' "Okay, well-um-thanks for bringing me!"  
  
"Why did you want to come here?"  
  
She scuffed her foot and pretended to be embarrassed. "It-is um a womanly problem and I-"  
  
He's eyes darted around, not looked at her. "That's enough explaining! I have to get back to my clan!" He was gone, leaving a trail of dust behind.  
  
"That works every time!" She ran in the direction that Inuyasha had gone in. She found him sitting beneath a tree by the river.  
  
"Did you get rid of the wimp?"  
  
"He's name is Kouga and yes I did." Kagome paced the bank.  
  
"What now?" It was almost night and he was getting edgy.  
  
She bit her lip. "Kouga was acting strangely."  
  
"What do you expect from a weirdo like him...?"  
  
"Can we have a discussion about him with you insulting him for once?!" She was finding it easier and easier to lose her temper lately. "I think something is wrong with him."  
  
"..." He felt the urge to say 'and I care because.' but that would have been an insult and he wanted to prove he could do anything that she could throw at him. And that included not insulting the wolf demon. Besides her scent was starting to attack his senses. She smelled, she smelled absolutely...  
  
"Are you listening to me?!"  
  
He was about to reply when his silvery locks turned black and his golden eyes blue. He was human and her scent was gone. When Inuyasha was about to answer her question he noticed she had her back to him. Kagome stared into the river, not believing her eyes. Her raven hair turned ghostly silver, her chocolate eyes golden. Newly grown fangs pierced her lip and her new red claws curved over her fingertips. "What's happening to me?"  
  
Am I demon  
  
Inuyasha crossed his arms but his face softened slightly. The flea had been speaking the truth. Kagome was a half demon. That means she will be going through hell for the rest of her life. Like I am. He scowled, stupid human emotions.  
  
Am I just like you  
  
Kagome touched her cheek in disbelief. She could recall times where she would look at Inuyasha wistfully. Wishing she could have beautiful silver hair or bottomless golden eyes.She bared her fangs, running her tongue along them, wincing when she pricked her tongue. Those things are sharp! She turned to Inuyasha, only a quick flicker of fright in her now golden eyes gave away her feelings. "What is happening to me?" She repeated.  
  
"How am I supposed to know?" He grimaced when it came out softer than he meant it to.  
  
She ran her hand through her hair, wincing as her new claws scraped her scalp. She looked down at her hands and noted how her blood stood out even though her nails were red. Kagome raised her head in alarm and sniffed the air.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Sesshomaru."  
  
Flamez: Mwhahahahaha! An evil cliffy! If you want more then review! But if no one reviews I'm NOT going to update! *shakes fist threateningly* 


	2. Demons, pural, in my view

Disclaimer: don't own a thing  
  
Flamez: Wow, I've got some requests for couples already! And all of them are different. Seems as thought this story could go anyway. Yes Kagome has dog ears. *Scratches head* I meant to put that in the first chapter. As for a crossover, I'm still doing it but I'm only using one character and not completely taking the whole story into this one. *makes puppy dog eyes* So I really hope you like it!  
  
Chapter 2- Demons, plural, in my view  
  
"Damn!" He stood up, drawing Tetsusaiga, forgetting that it was useless to him in his human form.  
  
Kagome shook her head. "You have to hide! You can't face him in your human form! You don't want him to know when you are at your weakest!"  
  
"Who else is gonna protect you huh? Do you see any perverted monks or boomerang wielding demon huntresses?!"  
  
"I am half demon now. I will protect myself."  
  
"You don't know how to fight."  
  
"And you don't have your hanyou strength. So you should just butt out, shut up, and go away." She snatched the sword from him and shoved him into the woods and out of harms way "Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit! Sit!" Making sure to say it enough times so that he wouldn't go anywhere anytime soon. "Sorry Inuyasha, it for your own good, I promise I won't sit you for a month." She whispered to the wind. She grinned slightly as she heard a 'feh' in the background.  
  
Sesshomaru appeared on the other side of the bank. "Who are you and why do you wield the Tetsusaiga?" He started floating over the river slowly. "If you do not its secrets then you will not be able to use it."  
  
She growled. Knowing he was taunting her. He could kill her in the blink of an eye but he was taking his time to get to her. "You speak of what I already know." She slashed the sword in the air. Silver energy swept down the battered sword turning it into a deadly fang.  
  
He snarled, he recognized that voice. "Inuyasha's bitch."  
  
Kagome barred her fangs and swiped at him with the sword. He dodged easily, but the sharp wind still cut through his skin. In an instant he had his claws around her throat. "I don't care if your fucking hair is green, I'm still going to kill." In this close proximity he finally paid attention to her scent. It drove him insane, her scent was so alluring he just wanted to- --Sesshomaru shook his head. "You are not the miko bitch."  
  
She glared at him. 'I'm hearing that a lot lately' "I do not have to prove my identity to you!" She smashed the hilt of the sword into his head, while prying his hand off her throat. Kagome smashed the hilt into him repeatedly. Sesshomaru grabbed the hand that held Tetsusaiga and brushed his lips against her palm before pulling her to him. 'No I must fight this!' He shoved her away viciously, Kagome grabbed his arm, digging her claws into his skin. "Don't touch me!"  
  
Really reeling  
  
His eyes narrowed and took a step forward. But he stopped when all of his veins glowed sliver. "You poisoned me you wench!"  
  
Her serious look was ruined. "..." 'I have poisonous claws?'  
  
"This has gone on long enough." He gripped her throat again. His veins blazed and his grip loosed. 'I'll have to go somewhere to heal. Then I will come back tomorrow to kill her.' Sesshomaru threw her into a tree and disappeared.  
  
She rubbed her throat. "Inuyasha?" Silence. But she knew he was still there. She could smell him. She walked into the forest and stood beside Inuyasha, who was still on his stomach in the dirt. Again. For the third time that day. She winced. "I am so sorry!"  
  
He glared up at her. "Thanks a lot for breaking my back! This helps me beyond words!"  
  
Kagome put her hand on his shoulder, wishing she could help. Suddenly she felt energy leaving her body quickly. She tried to pull away but found that she couldn't. Finally she was able to rip her hand from his shoulder. 'What was that?!'  
  
Inuyasha stood up, surprised he could do so after so many 'sits'. "Did you mean what you said?"  
  
She looked at him suspiciously. "Mean about what?"  
  
"That you wouldn't sit me for a month?"  
  
She cursed softly to herself. This was going to come back to bite her in the ass but a promise is a promise. "Yeah."  
  
He grinned deviously. "Good."  
  
"Why do I get the feeling you're up to no good?"  
  
"'Cause I'm not."  
  
Kagome eye's him warily. "Maybe we should go to my time, where it's safer for you."  
  
"I ain't going no where."  
  
She rolled her eyes and picked him up, lifting him onto her back. She tucked her arms under his legs. Laughing slightly at how everything was changed around. He struggled to jump down. "Stay still."  
  
"Let me go! I may be human right now but I can still walk!"  
  
"Hmph. I'm not stupid Inuyasha! As I set you down, you'll take off. Even though.I could always catch you." She grinned, liking the idea.  
  
"Just wait until I turn back tomorrow!"  
  
Kagome laughed and ran towards the well. "Tomorrow we have to go to that northern village, for the jewel shards. Why don't you get your rest now?"  
  
"I don't need no rest, damnit!"  
  
"Sure you don't." She swung around looking wildly behind her.  
  
"What is it Kagome?"  
  
"A demon, a jewel shards." She didn't know how, but the scent coming towards her told her it was. And she could sense the demon had at least 15 jewel shards. Inuyasha struggled against her. She sighed and held him tighter. "You're not going to try something stupid are you?"  
  
"Look, just because you're a half demon doesn't mean you know everything you got that!"  
  
She set him down gently and turned to face him. She said gently. "Inuyasha, I'm having a hard time with this, okay? I just don't want anything to happen to you. I know I'm kinda new at this but I want to be the one to protect you this time. Alright?"  
  
"Feh."  
  
Kagome smiled but winced as her new fangs bit into her lip. "Thanks for understanding." Her nose twitched. "He's close." She looked up as a sparkling dust settled over them. Her eyes were suddenly heavy.  
  
Inuyasha nudged her. "Don't close your eyes!"  
  
She squinted sleepily at him and yawned. "Why not?"  
  
"Because if you close your eyes, they'll never open again. Ever." Her eyes snapped open at that. He looked around. "Why don't you show yourself demon?! Instead of playing tricks?" She glanced at him sharply. She did not think of someone trying to kill her was a trick.  
  
Youko appeared behind them. "You are brave, for a human."  
  
Inuyasha snorted. Kagome glared at the new comer. He had long slivery hair, but unlike Inuyasha's it was thinner and perfectly straight. His ears poked out of his silky locks and his eyes sparkled against his milky skin. If he hadn't tried to kill her, she would consider him extremely attractive. "Look." She sighed, irritated. She was tired, hungry, and wanted to go home. "I know you have 15 jewel shards. And I know you want the shards we have. Lets just this over with okay?"  
  
In an instant the fox demon was directly behind her. "That is very presumptuous of you." She growled and turned but he was too quick. He reappeared behind her. "But you are so correct." He ran his fingers through her hair and took in her scent. "I almost feel bad about stealing from such an exquisite creature such as yourself. Surrender the shards and you can come with me, we can collect them together."  
  
Inuyasha stepped forward, not liking how close he was to her and what he was saying. "Get away from her."  
  
Youko twisted one her silver locks between his fingers. "It seems as though the human has feelings for you. How amusing. You are a strong, intelligent, and beautiful young woman, why are you with him? Is this human courting you?" He looked her over as if searching for something. He pointed the red stripe on her arm. "So it's true."  
  
Kagome frowned. When he was behind her like this she found that she could not move. His scent attacked her senses. He smelled of roses and cherry wood. What was this spell he was weaving around her? At his last comment she snapped back to reality. "What? Courting?"  
  
His eyes narrowed and he sniffed the air around her. "You tell the truth! Surely you have heard of Courting?"  
  
Her hands where balled at her waist. "Well, obviously I don't!"  
  
He threw his head back and laughed. It was a melodic sound. She glared at him, finding nothing humorous. "I do not appreciate being laughed at!!!" Her eye twitched, wishing she was able to 'sit' him.  
  
"It is just an amazement to me that a such a beautiful woman as yourself does not know of the Courting Ritual. Surely you must have had Suitors?"  
  
She glanced at Inuyasha wryly. "It appears that Inuyasha is my first. And my sort of new at this." She muttered. Kagome snapped her eyes at him. "Not that it is any of your business! I am tired so can't we just get this fight over with?"  
  
Youko laughed. "Alright." She growled, deciding that she did not like it when he laughed at her. Kagome drew Tetsusaiga from its sheath and waited for him to come to her. He disappeared she tucked the bottle of the shards inside of her waistband. He appeared a few feet in front of her. She narrowed her eyes trying to figure out what he had did. Suddenly the trees moved. They bent down one tree wrapping its branches around her left arm and leg while one tree wrapped its branches around her right arm and leg. Soon the trees would both go to their upright positions, ripping her in half. She struggled, knowing there was no way out of this. "I hate to destroy things that are beautiful. Give up and I will let you live."  
  
Kagome glared down at him. "Give up?! Not even in your dreams!" If only she could get to Tetsusaiga, which was a few feet way from her. Suddenly the branches went slack and she fell back to the ground.  
  
Youko frowned slightly. "How did you.?"  
  
Her hair swung upward, clutching the fang. It made perfect sense, every demon had special powers over something. Some physical powers like Kouga, Inuyasha, and Sesshomaru. And other's like Hiten's lightning, Kagura's wind, and this demon's plants were powers all their own. But hair? Yura was the only demon heard of that had power over hair but her own hair didn't move. Did it? She held out her hand and her hair dropped it in her waiting palm. She looked down at the sword. Sesshomaru had proved its full extension of powers before. Could she really use it to its full potentional? She swung it in the air experimentally. Luckily enough it actually hit Youko.  
  
Power seething  
  
The vines sprouted from the ground and pulled her down in to the waiting soil. Thirsting to bury her alive. She cut the vines but more and more kept coming and she was steadily sinking into the earth. Soon nothing but her hand could be seen but that too vanished beneath the soil. Youko shook his head. Oh well, all good things must come to an end. He beckoned the vines to bring the shards, frowning when they did not obey.  
  
Inuyasha was growling loudly. Pissed that he couldn't save her. He was human, he was weak, he was powerless. He wanted to jump at the fox demon and strangle him. But that would be foolish, didn't Kagome always tell him to stop rushing into things. Kagome.  
  
Youko tapped his foot, wondering what was taking the vines so long. Suddenly he his ankle was grabbed and silver tendrils sprang from the ground bringing him slamming in the ground. Kagome burst out of the ground bringing the fox into the air with her. Her hair raised him up higher before slamming him into the ground again. Youko's vines slashed through her hair, breaking him free.  
  
He sprang back from her before falling to one knee. "Forgive me dear lady."  
  
Kagome stumbled, taken completely off guard. "Um.come again."  
  
"Now I know of you true strength, sorry to have doubted you. You are perfect, you shall be my mate."  
  
At that Inuyasha stepped forward. "Listen here, you dirty little fox, I am obviously Courting her or whatever and you know the Rules."  
  
"Indeed that I do. You will be Courting her for a year. There is nothing in the Rules that says she can not be Courted by more than one."  
  
He sneered. "Expect a fox to think of something like that."  
  
Kagome turned her furious amber eyes to him. "You mean to tell me that you knew?!"  
  
"I know about Courting but I didn't know that was my mark! How was I supposed to know, my father died before he could tell me the family's Symbol! Or is that now my fault, too?"  
  
Kagome instantly felt bad. She didn't know why but she was getting annoyed at little thing. She was snapping at everyone and saying things she normally wouldn't have. Maybe it came from being half demon. Maybe that's why Inuyasha was the way he was. "Sorry, I'm just frustrated." 'And scared.'  
  
The fox demon bowed his head. "My name is Youko Kurama."  
  
"I'm Higurashi Kagome." She looked down at her right arm in alarm as it started to glow silver. She was surrounded by a pleasant warm feeling by the time the glow vanished. Under the red stripe was now a silver vine. "Wha."  
  
Youko rose from the ground. "Let me explain the Ritual, since no one else saw fit to tell you." He shot Inuyasha a glance. Letting him know that he considered him competition and did not care for him. "If the male discovers a female he is intrigued by he will fight her measuring her strength. If the female impresses him he will introduce himself and if she is interested she will them him her name. His family's Symbol will appear on her most used arm. He will court her for a year and if she says no to him or does not decide his Symbol will fade. He can try again if she doesn't decide or give up. During the year the male will still fight her, give her gifts, protect her and change himself to her liking."  
  
You need to know  
  
Kagome opened and closed her mouth. This didn't make sense! So what if Inuyasha knew her name, they still never fought! Well, they did have some pretty bad verbal battles. But he protected her before he started 'courting' her so that wouldn't change. And Inuyasha was rather drown than give her anything. This would turn out okay, she would let this ride out for a year and things can then go back to normal. "Okay.well-um-Youko, Inuyasha and I have to be leaving."  
  
Youko's eyes flashed at Inuyasha. "I do not trust him with you, Lady Kagome. How do I know he will keep you safe? He is just a human."  
  
She blushed, flattered that he cared about her. Wait a minute, no she didn't like him! He had tried to kill her! "I can take care of myself and besides I feeling he will be able to take care of me by tomorrow morning." Kagome lifted him onto her back and turned to Youko who looked extremely displeased. "See you." She ran towards the well, the sooner she got home the better. She sped up when she sensed and smelled Kouga coming. He could not see Inuyasha like this. He couldn't see her like this! She jumped into the well and sighed. Home at last.  
  
Kagome climbed out of the well and stood outside of her house, wondering if she should just walk in the front door. She opted for the window, not wanting to frighten her family. She set Inuyasha down on the bed and yawned. "I don't know about you, but I need sleep." She climbed into the bed, surprised that she found it almost too soft. Was this why Inuyasha slept in a tree? She was too tired to think right now. She closed her eyes and prayed everything will settle down tomorrow.  
  
Flamez- Okay, it wasn't really crossoverish, I just stole a character. More Sesshomaru next chapter I promise!! Everything will be explained later in the story. Did you like it? Think it needs improvement? REVIEW!! Or no new chapter! 


	3. Tricks and studies

Disclaimer: What do you think?  
  
Flamez- Howdy! *Blushes and coughs embarrassedly* I don't think I'll have anyone making "lemonade" in my story. Not that I'm trying to deny any of you what you watnt. Its just that I'm not good at that *cough* kind of writing. Sorry! I've gotta French test to study for, wish me luck!  
  
Chapter 3-Tricks and studies  
  
Kagome's eyes opened slowly. It took her a while to remember where she was. She patted herself down, as if making sure she was real. Yes, her hair was back to normal, no more dog ears (though she liked them), no more fangs, and no more claws. She checked her arm and sighed, realizing the marks were still there. Damn. She closed her eyes and thought about what happened.  
  
Bit by Inuyasha in his full demon form Turned into a half demon. Kouga acting strangely Sesshomaru freaking her out Youko telling her that she was being courted by Inuyasha who she had to protect the whole night.  
  
Kagome sat straight up. She had been tricked! Youko knew she didn't know anything about 'courting' and 'suitors' and 'rituals'. He had introduced himself knowing she would tell him her name, thus saying she was interested in him. Which she wasn't! And now she was stuck with him for a year, she had a feeling he would be hanging around. Damn that fox!  
  
And Sesshomaru, what was with him? First he wanted to kill her then he was kissing her hand and holding her then he wanted to kill her again! It was like a whole love hate relationship in one minute.  
  
Kouga, he was not himself. The whole time she was around him, it seemed as though he was checking for something. But what? Then he was always smelling her. He did that before but not constantly as he was now. And then he didn't want to let go of her and wouldn't until she had to repeat herself.  
  
Maybe being half demon was a curse. The only person who wasn't confusing her was Inuyasha. Well not confusing her anymore than he usually did. She always knew where she stood with him, somewhere between caring and abhorrence. It was comforting to know, especially since she had a feeling she would need to be comforted. She turned around, shocked when she came face to face with a sleeping Inuyasha. He was so innocent looking when he slept, you would never know what he was like when he was awake.  
  
She got out of bed and stretched. They would have to get back soon, Miroku, Sango and Shippo would be worried. Kagome showered and dressed her bathroom. When she came back to her room Inuyasha was up and staring out of the window. "You ready to go?" He asked without looking away from the window.  
  
"Yeah." She walked over to the window. "What are you looking at?"  
  
Slowly he turned toward her. He was disappointed in himself. He had not been able to protect Kagome, he hated himself. Why did he have to be so weak? Why couldn't he even keep his promise to protect her? "Nothing. Let's go." He jumped from the window and landed on the ground. Kagome jumped out after him, landing in his arms. They climbed into the well in silence.  
  
Inuyasha helped her out before climbing up himself. He growled at the waiting demon. "What are you doing here?"  
  
Youko regarded him, uninterested. "I was just waiting for a lady. Not that it concerns you."  
  
"Just shut your mouth you stupid fox!"  
  
Youko looked between Inuyasha and Kagome when realization dawned his face. A slow smile spread across his lips. "You are the human from last night! But look at you now, you're a half demon. I should have known." He turned his eyes to Kagome. "And you must be Lady Kagome." Her scent was different but similar, she now smelled of honey and nectar and all things good. But the demon form of her smelled of spices and earth.  
  
Kagome brushed off her skirt. "Nice seeing you Youko, but we must be going now." She climbed onto Inuyasha's back.  
  
He locked her into place with his arms. "Yeah, so fuck off."  
  
"I could do that, but on the other hand.I know when you transform Inuyasha. I know when you are weakest, you wouldn't want any enemies to find out would you?"  
  
Kagome sighed. "What do you want?"  
  
"Only to travel with you, dear lady."  
  
She narrowed her eyes. "And I'm supposed to think you have no other motives?"  
  
"Yeah, you thief." Inuyasha muttered between clenched teeth.  
  
"I have heard of your quest to defeat Naraku. I, too, want him dead. It would give me great pleasure to see that bastard die."  
  
She thought it over. It sounded reasonable but that was what made her suspicious. There had to be some hidden motive. Something she wouldn't figure out until it was too late. But this fox had 15 jewel shards, and maybe when they were done with Naraku, they could fight him for his. That didn't seem fair, pretending to be friends with him so they could take his shards. But then again that was what he could be doing. "Okay."  
  
Inuyasha looked at her sharply. What the hell was she thinking?! This was the same guy that tried to kill her! Was she mad?! When he looked back her she gave him a look at said go with it. So he relaxed, but only a little. He trusted Kagome's judgment but he would never trust the fox. "You better not slow us down, thief."  
  
Youko's smile widened smugly. "Do not worry Lady Kagome." He frowned when he looked at Inuyasha. "Why are you on his back?"  
  
"Because he can run a lot faster than I can. It saves us time." 'And so I can be close to Inuyasha...'  
  
He shook his head. Obliviously not liking the idea. "How do I know he's just trying to find a reason to touch you?"  
  
Kagome's lips twitched. "Trust me Inuyasha is not a Miroku!"  
  
Inuyasha laughed. "Definitely not!"  
  
Youko frowned, not getting the joke. "I request your presence, for a moment Lady Kagome. Alone." He looked at Inuyasha pointedly.  
  
He growled. "Like hell I'd leave a second rate pickpocket like you with-"  
  
"It's okay, Inuyasha. I'll be fine."  
  
He gapped at her and hissed. "He tried to kill you just last fucking night and you'll be FINE?!"  
  
She gave him the 'look'. "I'll be *fine*, Inu-ya-sha."  
  
He gave Youko a warning glare before retreating into the forest. Far enough away so they wouldn't see him but close enough to hear. The fox sat down on the rim of the well and patted the spot next to him. When she sat he asked. "Do you love him?"  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
"Do you love Inuyasha?"  
  
"I know who you're talking about! It just that it was really random." 'And personal..'  
  
"Well do you?"  
  
It seemed as though he was not going to give up. She sighed. "I don't know." She said truthfully.  
  
Youko smiled and held out his hand. "Let us go find the dog." She took his hand and stood. Wondering why he had even asked her that question. Well not why he asked it but why he was so blunt. And why he was satisfied with her answer. There was something going on behind those innocent eyes of his. They just stood there for a moment, holding hands. Kagome glared at him out of the corner of her eye. She had taking his hand thinking he was trying to help her up. If this was another one of his tricks..  
  
Suddenly the ground sifted beneath their feet. It rolled backwards, making it seem as though they were running forward. It swerved from side to side occasionally, to dodge a tree, or large stone. Then it stopped as soon as it started. They were in the middle of the wood standing in front of a surprised Inuyasha.  
  
The shock of moving at about 200 mph made her shake. She had just gone about a half mile in five seconds. Inuyasha's shock wore off a lot quicker than hers. "You can let go now." He looked at their hands, annoyed.  
  
Kagome snatched her hand back as if she was burned and walked over to Inuyasha. She climbed back onto his back. "Sorry Youko but this is the fastest mode of transportation that I can handle at the moment." Inuyasha flashed him a victorious smirk.  
  
Youko shrugged indifferently. "Actually, it is expected. Earth shifting is always harsh on first timers." He cocked his head to the side. "Most of them vomit soon after words."  
  
Just mentioning the action made Kagome turn green. She buried her face in Inuyasha's back, his smell easing her stomach. "Can we just go?" She mumbled. He shot him a look before leaping into the direction of Miroku's and Sango's scents.  
  
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Sango's eye twitched. She had been stuck with Miroku. Alone. For a whole day. Shippou had gone to the village to stay with Kaede. It was a wonder that Miroku wasn't dead yet. His lecherous ways has caused him to be injured on the regular by a certain demon exterminator. She supposed he had a strong will to live and a high endurance of pain. That last slap took a lot out of her. But it had served him right. Perverted monk.  
  
She looked down at her now red and throbbing hand. This was starting to take its toll on her. It seems that she would have to rely on her hiraikotsu now. Sango leaned against the tree and looked up at the sky. Miroku was, surprisingly, good company. When he wasn't trying to cop a feel. He made her laugh and he entertained her of his stories of tricking villagers into thinking there was an 'ominous cloud' over their homes. If only he wasn't such a hentai...If only..  
  
Sango frowned when Miroku stood over her. Smiling his toothy smile. "What?"  
  
"There is a warm spring we can bathe in up ahead." Instantly Sango reached for her boomerang. He stooped, holding his hands over his head. "Not like THAT! I meant separately! Gees, and *I'm* the one with the sordid mind? Hmm, Sango?"  
  
This earned him a painful kick in the side. And a foot in his back when she stepped on him to walk away. She sat just before the edge of the cliff, trying to meditate. But it was hard when images of Kagome being slashed to teeny pieces by Inuyasha in his full demon form. She knew, deep down, that she shouldn't worry. Not after seeing the way Inuyasha tenderly picked her up and carried her off. But she had an overactive imagination. After a while, Sango gave up and sighed. Something she had been doing a lot lately.  
  
Miroku, who had recovered, put his hand on her shoulder. "I know what you're thinking. You shouldn't worry. Kagome is fine."  
  
What? How had he known that was exactly what she was thinking?! Was a fucking mind reader? Or did he just know her too well. Slightly irritated, she snapped. "Who said that was what I was thinking?!"  
  
"Because every time you sigh, I know that you're thinking of them. And also you mumble under your breath when you are thinking deeply." He said the last statement so offhandedly, as if it were not important in helping he figure out her thoughts.  
  
She crossed her hands and thrust her nose in the air. "Stupid monk...do I really mumble...no one told me..how long.."  
  
"You're doing it again."  
  
"Oh shut up!" Pissed off that he was right. She shrugged his hand off.  
  
Miroku shook his head and sat down next to her. "You should not worry yourself. It is not good for your health."  
  
She snorted. "You sound like an old man."  
  
He frowned. "I'm serious. Why don't you ever take me seriously?"  
  
She looked at him like he just sprouted ten heads. "What?! Take you seriously?" He nodded vigorously. She broke out laughing, clutching her sides.  
  
"See! That's what I'm talking about!"  
  
When she finally calmed down, she said. "Because you're a pervert! Every time *I* try to be seriously your always trying to touch my ass."  
  
He pouted. "I can't help it."  
  
Sango rolled her eyes. "Yeah right."  
  
Miroku scooted closer to her. "It's just that every time I-"  
  
"Sango! Miroku!"  
  
Sango sprang up and went racing toward the edge of the forest. Sighing, Miroku followed. Kagome stepped out into the clearing. Sango ran up to her and swept her up into a crushing hug. "You had me so worried! Where did you go?"  
  
Kagome wiggled out of her arms. "It's a long story you see." She looked down and scuffed her foot. Where to start?  
  
Miroku smiled slightly when he finally noticed Inuyasha. "Why hello there. Wha-who the hell is that?" He directed his question to the demon standing next to him.  
  
He eyed him coolly. Kagome nudged him and nodded. His look didn't change but his voice was not as hostile as his face. "I am Youko."  
  
Inuyasha sneered. "Her dirty stealing Suitor."  
  
Miroku's eyes got so wide they threatened to fall out of his head. "SUITOR?!"  
  
Youko's lips curled down in distaste. "Last time I checked it was a dog that had fleas."  
  
Kagome laughed nervously. "I guess I have some explaining to do?"  
  
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Sesshomaru cocked his head to the side. So he was right the first time, she was the miko. He had been listening to her story from high up in the air, where the wind would carry his scent away. So the child was now a half demon. Most interesting.  
  
And that Youko, Youko Kurama the bandit. He was her Suitor, along with his half brother. Sesshomaru had heard a lot about him. Why would he be interested in her? There must be something about her. After hearing what he thought was important he disappeared.  
  
Jaken jumped out of is seat when his master appeared in front of him. He bowed low. "Master Sesshomaru! Anything I can do for you?"  
  
He looked down his nose at him. "Rin?"  
  
"She is in the garden, playing, sire."  
  
"Good, come with me then." He walked swiftly to his libraries with his servant close behind. He knew the information he required was not in his own library but he did have the information to break the spells. The spells around the largest library in the world, with scrolls dated back to before the first two demons. Punjia and Vaniliy. "Jaken, I want you to go ahead and find the Book of Spells. And you better have found it by the time I reach you."  
  
Jaken nodded vigorously and ran ahead. The Western Lord shook his head, and took a detour to the gardens. A little girl splashed happily in the fountain, singing. He watched her for a while, such a strange little thing. So pure, young, and innocent. Something he would usually detest, but there was something about her. Her simplicity, her eagerness to please made it uneasy for him to kill her. Not impossible but uneasy. He decided to keep her around, for her presence calmed him. He would raise her as if she were his own. Until he grew tired of her, then he would send her away.  
  
He turned and headed toward his libraries. Jaken was already at the door with a book under his arm. "I have found it Master."  
  
"Good." He picked him up by his collar and held him out as far as possible. Sesshomaru disappeared with his servant.  
  
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Sango scrubbed her skin. Wow. A lot had happened since the day before yesterday. Kagome a hanyou? Inuyasha and Youko are 'courting' her? This was just too much. "So Kagome, how to you feel about it?"  
  
Kagome closed her eyes and leaned back in the hot water. Out of everyone she was the only one to ask that question. "I don't know. It really hasn't sunken in yet. Having all of strength and heightened senses is incredible. But this whole 'suitor' and 'rituals' thing, I think there is something more to it than that.."  
  
She leaned over and whispered. "I knew that they becoming your suitors would mean that they would become more...possessive but this is going over board."  
  
Inuyasha had refused to let Miroku out of his sight while Kagome was bathing. And Youko did not trust either of them so all three of them where sitting on a log down the river. In silence. She smiled weakly. "Tell me about it."  
  
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Sesshomaru ran his eyes over the multitude of books. Getting into Youko Kurama's library was not an easy feat. The charms around it were very difficult to break. He was a wily fox that was very sly and three times suspicious. His collection of books where astounding. In fact, he had a whole palace just for his books. He had all the original copies of The Books.  
  
The Books were written by the scribes of Punjia and Vaniliy. They were the first two demons in existence. Demons where the result of the entrapment animals. Animals were innocent, they went about their business, not really too involved with each other. Then the humans decided they wanted them as pets. They put them behind bars and poked at them when they became bored. But over time the animals became smart, they watched the humans. Soon after, they mimicked them, walking on two legs, and using their thumbs. They began to shed out their fur, concentrating on the hair on their head, and using the rest for clothing. Two tigers, Punjia and Vaniliy, were the first to complete their transformation. Punjia, had grown her orange hair to her waist, her skin was now creamy. Vaniliy, had orange hair to his shoulders, his skin was still slightly pink. But what separated them from the humans was their slanted golden eyes, claws, black stripes on their faces and arms, and long white whiskers. When the humans came by to see them, they broke free, using their incredible strength. The others soon followed their lead. They escaped, going back to their families only to discover they didn't recognize them. They decided that they could no longer live with the other animals, so they went off in their own separate ways.  
  
They worshiped Punjia and Vaniliy as gods. They married, and built a palace in the South. They didn't want to rule over everyone so they appointed Lords and Ladies of each quadrant. Noticing that they still needed guidance, they had The Books written. Sesshomaru was looking for a very special Book. When Punjia and Vaniliy died, a shaman trapped their wisdom in a tree. The tree was made into paper, which now filled this book. It was their last request, and act as noble leaders.  
  
He stopped when he found the Book of Truth. Out of all of The Books, it is the most valuable because if you asked a question and opened the Book, it would answer it with the truth. But the catch is that the answer is always in a riddle and usually so difficult to figure out the Book turns out to be no help at all. But still, he knew the only way to have some enlightenment on the situation was to ask this book. And he had the perfect questions.  
  
"What is happening? What will happen?" Sesshomaru opened the Book.  
  
In old lettering it said. "First, the complete shall cometh, then the partial. What they seek they shall not have, for it all cannot be theirs. What is one shall become two, to fit the needs of all. What is more shall be come less, for it is most appropriate. And what is partial shall become complete and what is complete shall be more so."  
  
He closed the book and thought it over. It seemed to him that the future did look promising. "The child, Kagome, what about her?" This time before opening the Book he thought it over. Kagome. There was something important about her.  
  
The Book replied, alarmingly clear. "You need her."  
  
He dropped the book as if he had been burned. Sesshomaru, the Lord of the Western Lands, was shocked. 'I need her?'  
  
Flamez- Like the ending? Its not definitely a Sess/Kag, it can still go anyway. Like it? Think it needs improving? Review! Or no new chapter! 


	4. More suitors and a surprise

Disclaimer: Je déteste des dénis  
  
Flamez: *Clears throat* Ok, um if you look back at the first chapter, at the top it at the part summary it says - Could be a Kag/Inu, Kag/Kou, Kag/Ses, or Kag/ and any other demon I send her way to mess things up. That was before the first chapter, if you didn't want to read a story without a definite couple then you should have just NOT READ THIS STORY!!! Grrr..I try to tell you! And I tried to be polite about it! I'LL PUT WHOEVER THE HELL I FEEL LIKE PUTTING KAGOME WITH!!! AND IF I CHOSE NOT TO PUT ANY ADULT SCENES IN MY FICS THEN DAMNIT I WON'T SO STOP BEING SO FUCKING PISSY AND SHUT UP!! Thank for the review though, maybe you'll prefer to read a different story though. As for my French quizzes I got a 97 and a 94 ^-^ ! Yeah, pats for Patrick!  
  
Chapter 4-More Suitors, and a surprise  
  
Kagome pulled on her jeans and shook out her wet hair. Time to go back to the boys. She didn't know whether she wanted too or not. Inuyasha was irritated by Youko's presence, Youko was jealous, and Miroku was just well Miroku. She started walking down the river bank when someone caught her around her waist.  
  
He ran through the forest her held tightly under his arm. "I saw you last night with Inuyasha."  
  
"Yeah when you took me to the well." She pretended not to know what he was talking about.  
  
"No not then, much later. When you and him jumped into the well."  
  
"Oh yeah, then."  
  
Kouga sat her down on a large stone and took a seat next to her. "At first I thought you were traveling on his back. But it was him on yours. Care to explain?"  
  
"Um-you see-what had happened was-"  
  
He held up his hand. "You don't have to tell me if you do not wish to."  
  
Kagome sighed. "All I can tell you is that now I'm a half demon. I don't know how exactly but I am."  
  
His eyes lit up. "You are?! That's great!"  
  
She looked at him quizzically. "What?"  
  
"Now we can really become mates!" She was about to ask what that was supposed to mean but was distracted when her arm blazed royal blue. 'Oh great.' When the light died down, there was a royal blue fang between the red stripe and the silver fang. Kagome rubbed her arm, she would never get used to that. Kouga growled. "That dog turd is Courting you? Along with someone else?!"  
  
She played with the hem of her shirt. "There's that too."  
  
Kouga reached over and pulled her to him. "I can't let anyone else have you, I love you."  
  
Kagome avoided his eyes uncomfortably. He had told her that once before and she's still not sure she felt the same. He was strong, handsome, caring, responsible but there was something missing. "I-"  
  
"What are you doing you damn wolf?!" Kagome sighed, grateful, for once, of Inuyasha's rudeness.  
  
"I'm trying to talk with my woman!"  
  
"She is not *your* woman!"  
  
"You can't keep talking for her Inuyasha! She has her own voice!"  
  
They both looked at Kagome, who smiled nervously. Wondering what to say. Inuyasha really didn't have a right to speak for her. But it saved her from having to say it. But then again, she was starting to really like Kouga and didn't want to turn him down before she got to know him. He was nice but he was no Inuyasha. She opened her mouth and closed it again. She closed her eyes. "I..I think that.."  
  
"Lady Kagome."  
  
She almost fainted from relief. Saved again. "Yes Youko?"  
  
Kouga's lips curled as he sized the 'competition' up. Not much. "*That* is your other Suitor?"  
  
'That' turned his eyes to him. "I am Youko Kurama the Legendary Bandit. And *you* should think before you open your mouth, wolf." He turned back to Kagome with a smile, his voice changing drastically. "Dear lady, I have something for you."  
  
Kagome moved to get up but Kouga gripped her tighter. So she stayed there. "Yes?" He held out his hand. Cautiously she held out hers, he dropped it in her palm and closed her fingers around it. When she opened her hand it was just a seed. But it grew into a rose whose beauty was beyond words. Kagome gasped.  
  
"It is a life rose, it thrives on you. When you are happy, it will be in full bloom, when you are sad it will wilt, when you are angry, it will close up. It will last until you pass away."  
  
She looked up at him. "Wow, I don't know what to say."  
  
Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "It's just a stupid plant."  
  
"That shows what you know. I'd expect you to say something like that about such a wonderful gift." She smiled at Youko. "Thank you." She said, ignoring the gagging sounds coming from Inuyasha or Kouga's tightening arm.  
  
His smiled widened. "It pleases me to see you happy, that is all the thanks I require."  
  
Kagome didn't know what to think about him anymore. He was tricky but thoughtful. She wasn't so sure about taking his shards, maybe he did really want to just see Naraku dead. But, there was always a nagging but, in the back of her mind. She did NOT know him and could NOT trust him. "It's time for lunch, is anybody hungry?"  
  
Inuyasha perked up. "Ramen?"  
  
She rolled her eyes and muttered. "What else would it be?" The other two demons frowned. Ramen, what was ramen?  
  
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Sesshomaru sat in front of the window overlooking the garden. Kagome. He needed her? What did he have to do with the child? It had something to do with her being hanyou? It had been a while since he had asked the book that shocking question. Since then, he just sat here, thinking over his next question for the Book.  
  
It would have been unwise to have stayed in the bandit's libraries for too long. It also would have been unwise to take the Book with him. The hidden charms would have detected something being taken. So he had Jaken bring the Book of Replicas. It could copy anything and everything, within its pages. A few changes made to the magical makeup of the book and there was the Book of Truth volume II.  
  
He decided on his next question. "What should I do?"  
  
The book wrote. "Do what the child tells you, for she is wise beyond her years."  
  
The child? Rin? Surely not? How could she possibly be able to answer his questions? It also stabbed at his pride that the little girl knew something that he did not. But the Book of Truth was called that for a reason. So he set the book down and walked out to Rin who was trying to catch a butterfly.  
  
She smiled up at him. "Yes, Lord Sesshomaru?"  
  
He looked down at her and his eyes softened. "Kagome what do you think of her?"  
  
Her eyes lit up. "I think she's pretty and smart and funny and strong and nice, like you. She makes me happy, like you. You two should be together forever and ever." Sesshomaru's eyes widened slightly. If it had been anyone else their mouth would have fell open.  
  
You two should be together forever and ever  
  
Together forever and ever  
  
Forever and ever  
  
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The meal was tense. Inuyasha, Kouga, and Youko all wanted to sit by her. It ended up with Inuyasha sitting in front of her, to keep an eye on the other two and them on either side. Even though they enjoyed their meal, they still shot glares at one another between bowls. Kagome would try to make conversation but however would talk to her the other two would growl. So she just stopped trying.  
  
Kagome picked up the bowls and washed them in the river, finding an excuse to get away from the deafening silence. It was a nice day and there was cool breeze. She used a dish rag she had brought from home to scrub the food off. She frowned when a shadow fell across her back, thinking the clouds where blocking out the sun.  
  
"Kagome." She stiffened. She turned around slowly. First she saw bare feet, then a white kimono, chest plate, and...him. Sesshomaru. She glanced around, wondering how close the others where. "We must speak." The way he said it, he didn't seem pleased about the situation.  
  
She frowned. *He* came to *her* and then had the nerve to be upset about it?! "Do we?" She said dangerously, forgetting in her anger that he was capable of ripping her to shreds.  
  
He eyes darkened to an angry amber. "Yes. Now."  
  
She shrugged, turning away from him. "Maybe later." Hm. Funny. Even when she wasn't in her hanyou form she was still easily irritated. Her tongue lashed out, her words sharp.  
  
He grabbed her by her throat and picked her off the ground. "You try my patience you insolent wench. You WILL listen NOW. I am most displeased about this and would NOT be doing this if the Book of Truth didn't say it was to be so. You are a weak and pathetic human who can transform into a muddy blooded half breed. But because of that you are the strongest known human around and since worthy female youkais are hard to come by...I would consider to have you as my mate."  
  
Kagome cried out in outrage. Her right arm blazed a light blue and when the light died down there was a light blue crescent moon with a red stripe behind it under Youko's silver vine. Her lips curled down at she looked at the Symbol with hatred. "Just great!" She spat.  
  
Sesshomaru's grip on her neck eased and he set her down on the bank not gently but not roughly either. Kagome brushed herself off and crossed her arms. "Great. Now I have another one to worry about."  
  
He looked down at her. "I will come back for you tonight."  
  
"Try it and see what happens."  
  
He smiled coldly and lifted her chin with a poisonous claw. "Watch your tongue wench. It could get you killed." He moved his claw up and across her cheek before stepping back and disappearing. She sat on the bank for a while, slowly coming back to her senses. Why the hell did she say that to him?! What the hell was wrong with her?!  
  
Slowly, Kagome gathered the dishes and walked back to the others. While she had been gone, her Suitors had joined Sango and Miroku and Shippo had come back from Kaede's hut. Shippo jumped at her, knocking her down.  
  
He nuzzled her neck. "I missed you Kagome!"  
  
She laughed softly. "I missed you too."  
  
Kouga waited quietly until they settled down before speaking. "Kagome, will you walk with me? I have something to show you." Kagome nodded, noting how Youko bristled, as if he knew something she didn't. She set Shippo down and followed him. He smiled at her. "I'm sorry I've been acting so strangely. This all must be so difficult for you. Let me explain my actions. I was so worried because I thought Inuyasha had marked you, that was why I was checking your neck."  
  
Kagome smiled slightly. He seemed to know exactly what was bothering her. "I was wondering what that was all about."  
  
He looked at her for a moment. "Kagome, I do not trust Youko. I do not like that he is traveling with you."  
  
She huffed. "What is with you and Inuyasha?! I can take care of myself. I'm not stupid contrary to popular belief, I don't trust him either." 'But I think he deserves a chance.'  
  
He smiled spryly. "Good. Kagome I have a surprise for you." She raised an eyebrow. "Close your eyes." After a moment she obeyed. He slid something soft into her hands. "Okay open them."  
  
It was a body suit some sort, it was in too pieces. The top was tight with a high collar, long sleeves, the bottom stopped at the knees but had slits on both sides up the thighs. The bottom was like pants tight and thin but just as strong at the shirt. It was all made out a fine, short emerald green fur outlined in cream.  
  
Kouga's smile widened. "It's virtuously indestructible. It's made from the fur of the air rat, a cousin of the fire rat. I thought you might need it."  
  
Her fingers brushed the fur carefully. He didn't know what giving this to her meant to her. It meant that he thought she would need it in a fight. He was supporting her and her new found strength. He believed in her, he expected her to fight. Unlike other people. She closed her eyes and inhaled the scent, it smelled of earth and Kouga. Her eyes water up with joy and she flung her arms around him. He believed in her, unlike Inuyasha.  
  
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Kagome sat on the edge of the cliff, looking at the sunset. She wondered if she would transform tonight. Maybe it only happened on a new moon. Was that what she wanted? Did she want to be human? Did she want to be strong? The sun disappeared over the horizon, the golden sky turned blue black.  
  
The transformation was different this time. She pulsed, she could feel the power running through her veins. And she liked it. Kagome looked down at her red claws, and ran them through her sliver hair, careful not to scrape her scalp. She flexed her arms, reveling in the feel of her new air rat suit.  
  
She sighed and looked back over the cliff. Everything was happening so fast. What happened to her normal life? Kagome lifted her nose to the air and sniffed. Sesshomaru. He was around, but not making himself known. He was watching her and it was irritating. A leaf behind her crunched, her ears swiveled in the direction of the noise but her head stayed where it was. "What do you want?"  
  
It was silent for a moment before he said. "Answers."  
  
At that she turned around. "Answers?! *You* want answers? If anyone deserves some answers its *me*! I don't even understand what's going on and the only explanation I got was skimmed over. And I just know there was something being left out, I know it!"  
  
Sesshomaru cocked his head to the side. "Is it knowledge you seek?"  
  
"Yes!"  
  
"Wait." And he disappeared.  
  
She growled and turned back around. Wait, that was an command, not a request. Who did he think he was? Popping in out of no where. Becoming her 'suitor' against her will. Then *commanding* that *she* wait?! This was too much! Kagome took deep calming breaths. It wouldn't do to get angry anyway. There was nothing she could do about the situation, she was stuck with him for a year.  
  
He returned and dropped a book on her lap. "It is the Book of Rituals. It is yours now."  
  
She looked at the book. It was a deep burgundy with a gold binding and lettering. Kagome ran her finger along the letters, smiling slightly, her anger melting away. He was giving her what she wanted most, some insight on what was going on. Before he had seemed so cold and distant. But now, now he was different. She opened it up and fingered through it. When she had looked up to thank him he was gone.  
  
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Inuyasha watched Kagome from a tree limb. He thought she was beautiful before but now, now she was breathtaking. And her scent! He gazed at her for a few moments before dropping down and walking over to her. "What is that?"  
  
She glanced at him. "A book."  
  
He rolled his eyes. "I *know* that!"  
  
"Its about that ritual thing."  
  
"Oh. Look I brought you something."  
  
Kagome, thoroughly annoyed that he interrupted her reading, spun around. "What?!"  
  
He took something from behind his back. It was a few bundles of arrows. But not just any arrows, these were made of sacred tree and were said to give the user extra positive energy. "I found it on some dead guys out in the forest. And since you are always bitching about not having enough arrows so I picked them up. Now you'll have to pull some weight around here." He dropped them at his feet as if he were too good to hold them.  
  
When she went to pick them out, the charms and symbols on the arrows blazed. The arrows pulsed in her fingers. She put the arrows down and jumped at Inuyasha, knocking him to the ground. She grinned widely, her pearly fangs glinting. "Thank you, you don't know how much this means to me!" She breathed.  
  
He turned his head to the side. "Feh, its just some stupid arrows. No need to get all mushy over it."  
  
She took his chin in her cool fingers and turned his face so that she could look him in the eye. "It's not about the arrows." She through her arms around his neck and pulled him close. "It was never about the arrows."  
  
"Kagome!" Someone shouted from a distance.  
  
Inuyasha wiggled out from under her in a flash, pulling out Tetsusaiga. "Show yourself, or are you too chicken?" Kagome stood up and rolled her eyes. Did he always have to go into a fight insulting people? The demon stepped out of the woods, the moon was suddenly clouded over and lightning crackled. Inuyasha faltered. "Hiten?!"  
  
Flamez: OoOoOoO! An evil cliffly! If you want the next chapter you know what to do! 


	5. A break and a change in scenery

Flamez-I am so FUCKING PISSED that Cartoon Network dared to take Inuyasha off and put FLCL on AGAIN!!!! SON OF A MOTHER FUCKING BITCH!!! *cough* Sorry. As for Sesshomaru having a different sign than Inuyasha, it's because 1. They have a different mother and because Inu's mom is human she has no sign so therefore he has only his father's sign (a red stripe) and 2. things would be less confusing if I didn't have to keep saying which one was which. Sorry if I confused you .! Yes I did make up the story in chapter 3, its important to the plot later on. I'm so sorry if Sesshomaru is acting weird in this fic, I just started writing Inuyasha fanfiction and I can't quite get the personalities right. *Gushes* Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! I love em! ^-^  
  
Chapter 5- A break and a change in scenery  
  
Hiten leered. "Yes, you didn't expect to see me again now did you?"  
  
Inuyasha clutched Tetsusaiga and snorted. "I defeated you once, I'll just do it again." He brought the fang over his and head and charged at him.  
  
The air around him cracked with lightning, burning the hanyou where they touched him. "Fool! Did you actually believe I would come here without being stronger first? Besides, its not you I want, it's her. Kagome."  
  
She blinked and resisted the urge to look behind her to make sure they were talking about her. "Me?" She squeaked.  
  
Hiten eyed her appreciatively, practically licking his lips. "Yes you."  
  
Her surprise was taken over by anger. Her eyes darkened to an angry amber. She spat. "If you think I going to be one of your short term interests you're deadly mistaken."  
  
"You don't have to worry about that, cause once I defeat this half blood, you'll be mine forever."  
  
Kagome growled picked up an arrow and went to reach for her bow and cursed. She had not brought her bow to meditate. Damnit! Inuyasha's left ear was twitching wildly, it had been badly scorched. "You're going to pay for this!" He charged again, using the fang to deflect his attacks.  
  
Hiten chuckled, "You'll have to do better than that, mutt!" Lightning traveled across the ground and ran up the hanyou's feet.  
  
Kagome heaved at the smell of burning flesh. She had to do something! She had to save Inuyasha. She looked up at Hiten. "Stop it!"  
  
He glanced at her. "And why should I?"  
  
"Because if you do, I'll do whatever you want." She whispered, clenching her fists. No more than anything she hated being weak. Especially when she had the power to do something about it but didn't know how.  
  
Hiten smiled, his lightning vanished. "Glad you see it my way." He held out his hand to her.  
  
Hiding her eyes with her bangs, she padded over to him. But something had grabbed her ankle. "No! Kagome!"  
  
She looked down at Inuyasha's blackened face. Something inside of her snapped. "You bastard!" She roared. Her eyes turned red, her claws grew and three jagged purple stripes appeared on her cheeks. She picked up an arrow and charged.  
  
Hiten laughed. "Look, I made her mad." He powered up for an attack. Right before he released it she disappeared. "Why don't you be a good little girl and come out?"  
  
When she appeared, his lightning struck at her. Her hair grew and surrounded her, protecting her from the attack. She stabbed him in the stomach with her arrow and twisted it. He wouldn't be getting up anytime soon and she knew it. But she couldn't help herself, the smell of his blood excited her. She wanted more of it, she wanted him to die. Kill him, whispered a corner of her mind, kill him slowly. Blood, you need more blood. She yanked the arrow out and stabbed him repeatedly. Kill. Kill. Kill.  
  
Inuyasha groaned. Kagome. He needed to get to her, he needed to change her back. He crawled over to her. "Kagome...take..sword." She couldn't hear him over her new obsession with blood. Blood. Blood, need more blood. Kill. Kill him slowly. She raised her arms over her head to drive the arrow back into his flesh when something nudged her foot. Kagome looked down at a burned hanyou holding something. "Take it."  
  
Something in her mind told her to listen to him, so she bent down and gripped the kilt. As soon as she did, Tetsusaiga pulsed. She realized she couldn't let go. Then the pulsing turned into violent shaking. Kagome was sent flying backwards through several trees before landing. When she got up she was a hanyou again, she turned the sword around her fingers. It felt slightly different now.  
  
She scrambled to her feet, she had to get to Inuyasha. When she dropped to her knees when she reached him. Inuyasha's skin was badly burned, his left ear was nearly burned off. She had to do something! Then Kagome remembered the time when she had put her hand on his shoulder and wished he felt better. He was instantly healed.  
  
She dropped the sword and put both her hands on his arms. She gritted her teeth and prayed this would work. At first she could feel nothing but then all of the sudden her energy was being sucked out of her in dangerous amounts. But she couldn't, wouldn't let go. Soon she could see spots but she just held on tighter. When the last of her energy left her, her eyes rolled back into her head and she fell forward.  
  
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Kagome groaned and slowly opened her eyes to see a very irate hanyou. "What the hell were you thinking?"  
  
She flinched and covered her ears. "Stop yelling!"  
  
He frowned. "I didn't yell."  
  
She sat up, shielding the sun from her eyes. "Oh."  
  
Miroku pushed him away. "Kagome, I know you have just woken up but I need to know something. Do you think you're up to answering?"  
  
Kagome nodded. "Yeah."  
  
"Was Hiten's body next to yours?"  
  
"I think so, why?"  
  
"Because when Sango and I found you there was a blood trail from where you were lying and it disappeared somewhere in the woods."  
  
Kagome cursed softly. "I hoped he was finally dead. What does it take to kill this guy?!"  
  
"There's something else." Miroku held up a sword. "What is this?"  
  
She rolled her eyes. "It's Tetsusaiga. I know I must have been out for a while but that doesn't mean I'm having any memory lapses."  
  
Inuyasha shook his head. "No this is Tetsusaiga." He pulled the fang from its sheath.  
  
Kagome looked between both swords. "Where did it come from?"  
  
Miroku frowned "It was beside you when Sango and I found you. We hoped you knew."  
  
She shook her head. "I don't."  
  
Inuyasha reached up and slapped his face. "Oh now you come around. When the dangers gone, eh?"  
  
Youko leaned over and whispered to Shippo, the other person he tolerated beside Kagome. "Why is he talking to his palm?"  
  
"He's not taking to his palm, he's talking to Myouga. He's a flea."  
  
He bowed low. "I was simply, uh gathering information, sire."  
  
"Really?" He nodded. Inuyasha growled and squished him between his fingers. "You little coward!"  
  
"Wait, Master Inuyasha, I know about the sword!"  
  
He eased the pressure of his fingers. "What about it?"  
  
"It is called Aisaiga, it was a part of Tetsusaiga. Aisaiga was made from the wisdom teeth of your mother. It was added to Tetsusaiga before you father died. It was said to be very powerful and have very usual capabilities."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"Well-I-um really don't know."  
  
He proceeded to crush him. "What good are you?"  
  
"Wait, wait! I know more! Aisaiga could only be pulled from Tetsusaiga when a human wanted to protect a demon and something about something else." He mumbled he last part.  
  
"What about what else?"  
  
"I don't know okay? I just know there's more to it!"  
  
Kagome looked down at the new sword. She had thought it was Tetsusaiga that she was holding. Could this all be real? It was so confusing and unrealistic that it had to be real. Her dreams were never this interesting. "I did this?"  
  
Myouga nodded. "Yes."  
  
"How?" She wailed and kicked, like she had seen her brother do when he was upset. "Why does it always have to be fucking me?" She rose to stalk off but Inuyasha pushed her down with ease.  
  
"You're not healed."  
  
"I don't care!" She roared and for a split second her hair turned silver and her eyes gold and she threw Inuyasha off of her. Kagome collapsed and stared at her now normal hands. "What's happening to me?"  
  
"I could help you figure it out."  
  
The group turned to look at Sesshomaru. Inuyasha spat with contempt. "What do you want?"  
  
He looked down his nose at him. "I left the child here because I thought that you could protect her, even with your dirty blood. I am taking her to my palace where she will be properly looked after and properly informed." His last comment was directed to Youko, who glared back at him. His look seemed to say shut-up-now-or-I'll-decapitate-you.  
  
Inuyasha stood and pulled out Tetsusaiga. "You're not taking her anywhere!"  
  
Youko and Kouga stood. "That's right."  
  
"Is that so?" Sesshomaru disappeared. Kagome took this moment to pick up Aisaiga. She felt pretty foolish sitting down and doing nothing. She took this moment to glance at Inuyasha. In all this 'excitement' she had forgotten how badly he was hurt. He looked perfectly fine, except for his left ear which was slightly charred. Her eyes watered up as she remembered the smell of his burning flesh. He'll probably never be able to hear correctly out of that ear again.  
  
Kagome growled slightly. If only she hadn't been so useless. She gripped the sword and looked around. Suddenly there where a pair of arms around her. She trashed but her arms were pined to her sides. "Inuyasha!" She shrieked in terror.  
  
"Kagome!" Inuyasha brought his sword over his shoulder and ran towards them.  
  
"I have not come to fight you, but if you insist." He started to let go of her, she slipped out of his grasp and stumbled away. His tail took a firm hold of her waist. He turned slightly and regarded her for a moment. His stare cold and calculating. "We can't not fight like this, the child will be harmed. And I can't let her go because she'll run. This fight will have to be saved for another time." He disappeared along with Kagome.  
  
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Kagome stared at the ceiling of her new room. Well one of her rooms. This was the bedroom, she also had a living room, bathroom, and a sound proof meditating room. All of which had black walls, carpet and curtains. The furniture was a bright white, so bright in fact she wondered if could even fall asleep.  
  
She had spent the last hour exploring. The living room had a pile of large plush white pillows. It also had a low table, pond complete with fish and waterfall, six braziers, white furs, and several candles in sliver holders. The bed room had a bed that was so high, she had to run and jump to get on top of it. It had white silk sheets and fur covers. White veils surrounded the bed so if she wanted to she could draw them close to shut out some light. It had a fire place directly a across from it set in limestone. A balcony over looked the garden and a lake in the back. The bathroom had a large tub that had limestone steps leading up to it and large limestone pillars. The tub so big she could swim in it. It also had a vanity complete with chair and brushes, combs, makeup, and perfume.  
  
After looking around she noticed one thing. Something very important. There was no way out. And she meant no way out. There was no door leading out into the hall and the only way outside was on the balcony but that was very VERY high in the air and she doubted she would survive the jump. So after discovering such she did what someone else in her position would. She threw a fit.  
  
Anything that she could pick up, was thrown. But to her immense displeasure nothing seemed to break. So she shouted curses, most of which she learned from Inuyasha. She even resorted to falling on the ground and pounding to floor with her fists. After awhile she was exhausted. She laid on her bed and was about to got to sleep when someone spoke.  
  
"Anything you require?"  
  
She jumped so high she nearly fell off the bed. She peered down at Jaken. "Other than my immediate release. NO!"  
  
He bowed low. "Lord Sesshomaru wanted me to get you these." He handed her two large books.  
  
Kagome snatched the books from him. "I show you what I think of him and his books!" She marched out onto the balcony and chucked them over the railing. She dusted off her hands and walked back into the room. Jaken was standing there calmly, she just brushed past him and sat on her bed. One thing she did notice that there on her bed was those two books. "What?!"  
  
The servant shook his head. "Lord Sesshomaru has a charm put under your window. Anything, including you, that falls off your balcony will be instantly transported onto your bed."  
  
She felt so helpless she wanted to cry but she wouldn't do so until the toad left. "Go away."  
  
"As you wish." He bowed out of the room.  
  
Kagome sat back on the bed before jumping up again and running into the living room. Jaken had to have came into and out of her rooms by some opening and she had missed it. She growled and yanked at her hair. She was stuck in a room with no way out. She felt like fucking Rapunsel! Wait a minute! That was it! She rushed out onto the balcony and looked up. The roof had to be about nine stories up.  
  
Kagome ran into her meditation room. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on anger until her breath grew ragged. But when she opened her eyes it seems as if nothing happened. She growled and went back into her room to get a vase. When she returned, she sat cross-legged in front of the vase. She closed her eyes and imaged her fight with Hiten. She could feel the power coming back to her. She went further and imaged the glass in front of her was Hiten.  
  
Kagome heard a shattering sound and opened her eyes. The vase was broken to small fragments, she carefully poked through it. Then she found it, one silver hair. She jumped up in glee and did a little victory dance. It worked! Now she had the perfect plan! At night when she turned into a hanyou she would use her hair to climb onto the roof. Then she would just jump from the roof onto the roof of the menagerie. And from the menagerie to the woods, then to Inuyasha...And the others. Inuyasha AND the others. Her mind wandered back idly to the not-what-he-seems Youko and the supportive-and-kind Kouga.  
  
She closed her eyes but was too exhausted to try it again so she got her new sword and practiced. In the middle of her practicing she swung and heard a little squeak.  
  
Jaken bowed, his hat sliced in halves at his feet. "Lord Sesshomaru requests your presence at the evening meal."  
  
Request! Ha, yeah right! "You can tell him that he can just go to hell." She brushed past him.  
  
He threw himself into her path. "No you don't understand! You have to go!"  
  
She kicked him out of the way. "Oh yeah and why is that?"  
  
He hung his head. "He promised to harm me if you don't."  
  
She turned and cocked her head to the side. Her nostrils twitched rhythmically. "You are lying." She didn't know how she could tell. It was just a feeling.  
  
His head snapped up and he sneered. His entire demeanor changing. "Look here, you WILL eat dinner with him."  
  
She laughed. "Big words for a little toad."  
  
He held out his staff, fire sprouted out to block her exit. "You're not going anywhere until you agree to dine with him."  
  
She growled. "I'm losing my patience toad."  
  
"That didn't sound like a yes."  
  
Kagome lunged at him, getting him into a head lock. "You get rid of the fire or I'll snap your head off."  
  
"Um, excuse me."  
  
She looked up at the quiet voice by the door. She immediately dropped Jaken, though keeping a foot on his back, ensuring no escape. "Yes?"  
  
Rin tugged at her hair. "I was bored, and I have no one to play with. Will you play with me?"  
  
She smiled, her anger leaving her. "Of course. Jaken, if you please?"  
  
"Then it's a yes?" He wheezed.  
  
She rolled her eyes and nudged him to the side with her foot. "Forget it. I just walk through it." She closed her eyes and prayed. She was terrified but she said that was what she was going to do so she was going to do it. She walked straight through the fire. Letting out a relieved sigh she took the girls hand. The air rat's fur was proving to be very helpful.  
  
"We're going to have fun together." Rin laughed and pulled her into the living room. "I only get to play with Jaken and he's no fun!" She was walking straight towards a wall. Kagome opened her mouth to warn her but apart of the wall slid away! Leaving a doorway like hole.  
  
She gaped. She had searched the whole place and found nothing. Then this little girl goes prancing through the wall as if nothing were unusual about it? Dazed, she let her steer her around before coming to a vast garden. It was full of flowers, twisting stone paths, water fountains, trees.  
  
Rin sat down on the fountain's rim. "What do you want to play?"  
  
"Do you know how to jump rope?"  
  
She shook her head. "No."  
  
"I could show you if you could go get a rope."  
  
She jumped up. "Sure." She scurried away and in moments she was back with a long tan rope. "Is this good?"  
  
"It's prefect." Kagome tied one end to a tree and too the other end in her right hand. "The object is to jump over the rope every time it hits the ground. Like this." Turning the rope for herself with one hand, she jumped in. After a few jumps she stopped. "Do you get it?"  
  
She nodded. "I want to try."  
  
"Okay, stand by the rope and I'll start on the count of three. One, two, three." It took Rin a while to get to hang of it, a few bruises from when she fell but once she got it she was a natural.  
  
Kagome laughed and turned while Rin sang with her. "Cinderella, dressed in yella. Went upstairs to kiss a fella. She made a mistake and kissed a snake. How many doctors will it take? One, two, three."  
  
Sesshomaru watch from the window. He frowned slightly, she made a fine playmate for Rin but what did she have to do with him? Kagome. He detested the child but her presence somehow calmed him. Which only served to annoy him.  
  
"Lord Sesshomaru." Jaken bowed low.  
  
"What?" He barked.  
  
"Kagome refuses to dine with you."  
  
"Tell her to be in the banquet hall."  
  
"Yes my lord." He bowed away.  
  
He turned back to the window. If anything Kagome was just a large child. She certainly acted like it. And she was so helpless, always cowering behind Inuyasha. She had no backbone, it was pathetic and disgusting. But there was that times where she had fought him that one night and the way she snapped at him the river. He liked that side to her. He wanted to see more of it. Sesshomaru glanced once more out of the window before walking off down the hall. That Kagome was dangerous, and if she did not prove useful soon, he would kill her.  
  
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Kagome and Rin fell to the ground in laughter. Rin pointed to a cloud. "Look it's a bunny."  
  
"I see a fish."  
  
"Where?"  
  
"There."  
  
"I see it! I see it! Under it's a duck."  
  
Kagome tilted her head slightly. "Oh, there it is. Look there's a television."  
  
Rin frowned and scrunched up her face, trying the new word out. "Tell-uh-ve- son? What's a tell-uh-ve-son?  
  
"It's a box with pictures, used as a source of entertainment."  
  
"Like a puppet shows?"  
  
"Well-yeah something like that."  
  
"Jaken puts on puppet shows but he's not very good."  
  
"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that." Jaken stood over them. "Dinner is soon."  
  
Kagome propped her head on her elbow. "And?"  
  
He clenched his teeth. "You are to eat with Lord Sesshomaru."  
  
"How many times do I have to say no?"  
  
Rin pouted. "Why don't you want to have dinner with Sesshomaru-sama?"  
  
"Because-well-when people don't li-I just don't want to."  
  
"Why?" She pressed. "Do you not like Sesshomaru-sama? But I like him, he is really great. He is my hero and you are my sister. Why wouldn't you want to eat wit him?"  
  
She faltered. "Sister?"  
  
"Yes, Lady Kaggy!"  
  
Lady Kaggy, she had given her a nickname. Damnit! Little kids will be her downfall one of these days. "Fine, I'll have diner with him." She mumbled.  
  
Rin smiled and hugged her. "Good! Ever since he asked me about you, he's been acting funny. Maybe you'll make him feel better."  
  
"He asked about me?"  
  
She nodded. "Yeah, after I answered him, he looked a little pale. Do you think something is wrong?"  
  
"What did you say to him?"  
  
Jaken grabbed her wrist a pulled her away. "No time! You have to go now!"  
  
Kagome twisted her arm out of his grasp. "I will NOT be dragged!"  
  
"Fine, just be sure to keep up."  
  
"Just be sure to keep up." She mocked silently. 'His legs are like two seconds long and HE wants ME to KEEP UP?!' She followed him into a large room. The top half of one wall was full of stained glass, the rest of the walls were stone. There was a fire with two chairs facing it and a table that could easily sit 30 people.  
  
Jaken rushed her to a seat to the right of the head chair. "Just in time. It's not good to keep him waiting."  
  
Kagome rolled her eyes and snorted. "Like I care."  
  
"Sh! You must not speak that wa-"  
  
"Save your breath, Jaken, she is a stubborn mule." Sesshomaru sat down and glared at her. Like he resented her. HE dragged HER here and had the NERVE to be MAD at HER?! What was wrong with these people's logic?  
  
Her lips curled in a sneer. "At least I'm not a cold hearted fool."  
  
"Watch your tongue child, before I remove it. You will learn to control your cheek, I'm not as soft as that mutt Inuyasha."  
  
Her hair turn silver and her eyes flashed gold. Only for a moment, but he noticed. "You're not one one hundredth of the man he is." Her voice low and dangerous. "I may be stuck here temporarily but I do not have to please you. Kill me if you must and get it over with but DON'T think you can tell me how to behave."  
  
He stood, placing his fists on the table. "I will kill you when it is my wish to do so. Until then know this, your stay here will end when your life does." He turned and walked away but stopped at the door to say over his shoulder. "And do change your clothing, it smells of that wolf. After that, bathe thoroughly to get rid of the mutt's stench from your skin." The he walked through the door.  
  
Kagome, in a fit of rage over his words, she lifted the table and threw it. She fell to the ground with a thud. She cried into her hands. What was happening to her? She felt such anger at times it scared her. Was she turning in some type of monster? Someone nudged her, thinking it was Jaken, she snapped. "What?"  
  
"I just wanted to know if you wanted to jump rope with me." Rin said.  
  
"Oh, Rin, no I'm sorry. I think I'll just go to bed. Will you take me to my room?"  
  
"Okay." She pouted slightly and took her hand.  
  
When they got her room, Kagome waved goodbye and went straight for her bed. She hadn't been lying she had really wanted to go to bed. She was exhausted, she felt as if she had just ran a marathon. She even had a stitch in her side. After collapsing on her bed, which took her a few minutes to climb onto, she pulled the covers over her head. Tonight, when she turned hanyou she would escape. And she would NOT change and bathe for him, serves him right, the bastard. Not being able to sleep, she kicked off the covers and went out onto the balcony.  
  
Rin lead Sesshomaru over to where she and Kagome had tided the rope to the tree. "Look what Kaggy showed me!" She picked up the rope and turned, singing a song that she taught her. At the end she stopped.  
  
He raised an eyebrow. "Jumping over a rope as a means of entertainment?"  
  
"It's fun really! Look what else she showed me!" She picked of a string of gardenias. "I made it for you." She held it up. He bent slightly and she placed it on his head. "I dub thee, King of the garden!"  
  
The left side of his lips lifted slightly in amusement. "Oh, so what would that make you?"  
  
"Your loyal servant, of course!"  
  
He shook his head. "That is a low position, leave that to Jaken. You will be Lady of the garden." He took a branch off the willow and bent it into a crown and placed it on her head. "Now go forth and tend to your lands. The peasants are angry and they want to burn you at the stake." Rin yelped and ran off.  
  
Kagome walked back to her room. Sesshomaru, going on with a little girl's make believe? She would never have guessed he had that side to him. Even though he said her subjects wanted to burn her. She frowned quickly, realizing she had been smiling. Sesshomaru was still a bastard, nothing could change that. But she found that she wasn't tired and she wanted to take a bath. NOT because he said to but because she was still sweaty from the workout she had earlier.  
  
She walked into the bathroom and fiddled with the knobs on the tub until it was just the right temperature. After stepping out of her pants and peeling off her shirt she got into the water. She was scrubbing her arm when she saw it, she gasped. In between Inuyasha's red stripe and Kouga's royal blue fang was Sesshomaru's crescent moon. It used to be on the bottom now it was second to the top.  
  
Flamez- Don't worry Hiten fans, he's not out of the picture yet! And the swords name Aisaiga-I hope it means love break fang, I'm not sure. If it doesn't oh well I still like the name. If you want more or have any more questions about what's going on REVIEW!!!! 


	6. How could I care?

Disclaimer: My life sux  
  
Flamez: Inuyasha is coming on Monday!! YEAH!! That's right, Cartoon Network that's what I thought!  
  
Chapter 6- How could I care?  
  
Kagome leaped out of the water as if she was burned. After quickly drying herself, she wrapped the towel around her before skidding out of the bathroom. She dived onto the bed and ripped through the sheets for the books. One book was the history of demons and the other was the book about rituals Sesshomaru had given her earlier. She frantically scanned the pages for something that would explain this to her.  
  
It said: Multiple Suitors is uncommon but not impossible. It is uncommon because the female and the male must be compatible into to become each others Choice. If that is to happened the arm of the most used on the female has her Suitors Symbols in the order of preference.  
  
Her mouth flew open and she flipped through the pages over and over trying to see if she was reading this right. When it finally dawned on her she frowned. WHAT THE FUCK?! She hated that cold hearted bastard! This book was full of lies. Her first instinct was to through it off the balcony but she knew what would come from that. Her and Sesshomaru? The thought to her was so vile that she wanted to vomit.  
  
Thoroughly disgusted, Kagome threw the books back onto the bed and walked back out to the balcony. Sesshomaru and Rin were gone. 'Thank Kami, I didn't want him ruining the view.' She frowned as she looked up at the sky. It was night by now, why hadn't she transformed yet? The full moon shone down and illuminated the gardens. Wait full moon, wasn't the new moon just two days ago? But then again, she hadn't been able to ask how long she had been unconscious. Inuyasha was human on the new moon, maybe the full moon was when she stayed human. Just her luck! Things like this always happen to her! 'Kami, what did I do to deserve this?!'  
  
Disheartened, she found a light blue kimono hanging in the bathroom and put it on. She supposed it wasn't SO bad, considering the circumstances. She had a bed, a real bath, and Rin was full of cheer. But she longed for her old life. Of bathing in rivers, sleeping on the ground, smacking Miroku, yelling at Inuyasha, her talks with Sango, Shippou cuddling up with her. Kagome bit her trembling lip, is it possible to be homesick when the place you were missing wasn't your house?  
  
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Inuyasha sat with his crossed arms. This was not the time for discussion, this was a time for action! Kagome was probably with that bastard now, and who knows what he did to her. But sense there was no scent trail to follow and he didn't really know where Sesshomaru's palace was he would have to wait. He glared across the fire at the kitsune. Oh, Youko knew exactly where it was, he just refused to tell him. He said that they needed a plan, not to rush in. 'Feh, what does he know?'  
  
The fox in question looked thoughtful. "So you have no way of tracking her down?"  
  
Kaede shook her head. "Her miko aura surrounds her and shields her. But there is something else that is disrupting ye search."  
  
At that Inuyasha leaned forward. "What?"  
  
"I don't know for certain, it isn't negative but it isn't positive. As far as I can tell, it poses no danger to her yet."  
  
He rolled his eyes and sat back. "What good are you old hag? This is nothing but a fucking waste of time!"  
  
Youko's eyes snapped in his direction. "I want to find Kagome just as much as you do, make no mistake. I *should* be able to sense her now that I'm Courting her but I can't. I don't want to go barging in there recklessly endangering myself and her. And I'm not even positive that it was his palace that he took her to."  
  
He cut his eyes dangerously at him. "This is getting us no where fast."  
  
Kouga glanced between them both. "I can have my clan search for her."  
  
Kaede nodded. "That sounds like a good idea."  
  
The prince smirked triumphantly. "I'll go to them now." He walked away but stopped at the door. "Don't try anything stupid while I'm gone." And with that he left.  
  
Inuyasha glared out of the doorway. Why did it feel like that last comment was directed toward him? It was killing him to just sit and wait but there was noting he could do. Kagome. Where are you?  
  
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Kagome wept into her pillow. Why? Why her? She had been reading the Book of Rituals when she had found out some disturbing news:  
  
A female can reject a male at anytime during the Decision Period. She must be absolute positive that that is not the one she wants. When she is then she will be able to declare so out loud.  
  
That wasn't the bad part. Her heart thumping with glee, she opened her mouth to reject Sesshomaru but found that she had no voice to say it. Frowning she decided to say something else. "The sky it blue." Not the most intelligent thing but at least it was something. She decided to try it again but she still had no voice. So she continued reading.  
  
If the female is not positive about her decision she will have no voice in which to utter her rejection.  
  
That was when she threw herself on her pillow. But it wasn't her pillow was it? It was his. It was Sesshomaru's, never hers. She sat up as if the pillow had burned her. Then she realized something. In a fit of fury and madness she shredded the pillow to bits with her teeth. Tricked! She had been tricked AGAIN! Youko had made it seem as though she had to wait a whole year to get rid of her Suitors. That sneaky little fox! She threw the shreds around the room and pounded her fists on the walls. "LET ME OUTTA HERE!!"  
  
She would have to stop, throwing tantrums would get her nowhere. Kagome sat on the ground with a thud, she needed to think rationally. Yes, she would go along with her plan. Tomorrow night she would escape.  
  
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Sesshomaru's eyebrows knitted together. Her incessant shrieking was annoying. Ever since she got here, his nerves have been on edge. He twirled the dagger he had been examining in his fingers, wondering if he should go and kill her now. It would certainly end his irritation. Yes so simple, just walk into her room and end her pitiful existence. So easy. But for once, he decided to wait before he killed her. It was all that damn book's fault. There was a time when given the opportunity, he would gladly snap her neck without a thought. But that book, that fucking book, ruined it for him. It made him curious.  
  
Just why did him, the Lord or Western Lands, need *her*? So far, all she did was act like a child. Whining, crying, shouting when she didn't get her way. Rin was much more mature than she was. "Jaken."  
  
In an instant he was by his side. "Yes my lord?"  
  
"Go tell the bitch to shut up."  
  
He bowed lowly. "Yes my lord."  
  
"And Jaken?"  
  
"Yes my lord?"  
  
"If she refuses to cooperate, tell her I'll shut her mouth permanently."  
  
"Yes my lord." He bowed out of the room.  
  
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Kagome thrust Aisaiga through the air before sweeping it up in a half crescent. After her second breakdown, she decided to use her pent up energy to practice with her new sword. She repeated the moves she saw Inuyasha use over and over. Inuyasha. Her heart contracted with another wave of homesickness. She swallowed the lump in her throat and thrust forward again.  
  
"Lady Kagome." Jaken said, as if the whole diner episode had never happened.  
  
"Toad." She swept the sword down and up then hacking to the right.  
  
"Lord Sesshomaru wishes that you refrain from making so much noise."  
  
"Well you can tell him that I'll be happy to *refrain* when he releases me." She said pleasantly, all smiles. Then her expression darkened. "Until then he take his wishes and SHOVE IT UP HIS ASS!"  
  
Jaken's eyes narrowed. "You don't know what you're saying, surely."  
  
"Yes I do and I don't like your tone." She feinted left and stepped to the right grabbing his collar and picking him up.  
  
He struggled and kicked. "If you don't let me go, Lord Sesshomaru will kill you."  
  
"Oh believe me this will be well worth it." She place Aisaiga on her bed so that the point faced up toward the ceiling. Then she walked out onto the balcony. "Now, don't you want to tell me how to get thought that wall?"  
  
"No!"  
  
She held him over the edge by his collar. "Tell me or I'll drop you and you'll appear right above my little sword."  
  
"Put me down."  
  
"Uh, sorry wrong answer, try again." She was now only holding him two fingers by his collar.  
  
"You'll be sorry!!"  
  
"Toad kabobs anyone?" She was now dangling him by one finger.  
  
"Put. Him. Down." A cold voice said behind her.  
  
She didn't turn around. What did she have to lose? "Why should I?"  
  
In an instant he was behind her with his cold fingers clasped around her throat. He dangled her over the edge. "Unless you don't feel like dying today I suggest you shut the fuck up and do as you're told."  
  
Kagome smiled mysteriously. "But if you do, you can't get your answers."  
  
He faltered. How did she know about that? "What answers?"  
  
"Come on don't tell me you forgot. The other night you said you wanted answers. I just might be able to give them to you."  
  
Sesshomaru sniffed the air around her. She wasn't lying. "Tell me."  
  
"Uh uh, not until you put me down."  
  
He glared at her fiercely but slowly put her onto the balcony. "Well?"  
  
She glanced around, not looking at him. She had not really lied, she said that she *might* be able to answer him. But she had a feeling that if she didn't tell him something soon, he would chuck her off the balcony. "Which question do you want me to answer?"  
  
"The Book of Truth said that I needed you, why?"  
  
"Because I can sense jewel shards." She said simply, hoping he would buy it.  
  
"Why would I want you for that? I don't even want the jewel." His eyes narrowed dangerously.  
  
She thought rapidly. "Because if you complete the jewel you could make a wish."  
  
"What would I wish for?" He asked, patience at her vague answers growing thin.  
  
Kagome raised her eyebrows. "You know *that* at least."  
  
He thought for a moment. A wish? What for? He didn't need anymore power. Although, he did still want his brother's sword.. "What else?"  
  
"What else what?"  
  
He growled lowly at her thickness. "What else can you tell me?"  
  
She wagged her finger at him. "You have to *ask* the question before I can answer it."  
  
Sesshomaru held her over the side of the balcony again. "Don't be a fucking smart ass." His fingers tightened around her throat. She winced, knowing there would be a bruise there in the morning. If she lived to see morning that is. He smiled. "I could kill you now couldn't I?" His fingers tightened as his grinned wickedly, enjoying it. She was gasping for air but her lungs would fill up. Her vision started to get dark. "And I should kill you now. You nothing but a pain-in-the-ass bitch." She crawled desperately at his fingers.  
  
Kagome's kicks and struggles weakened. 'I'm gonna die. I was stupid and should've kept my mouth shut but I didn't and now I'm gonna die.'  
  
"You've talked shit ever since I brought you here and I *won't* tolerate it. You *will* obey me or you'll die." He flung her onto the floor of the balcony. "Talk or die."  
  
Kagome sputtered and coughed. She winced and rubbed her sore neck. "Truthfully I don't really know anything myself.." Then she went on to tell him everything that had happened. After she was done her eyes grew and she clamped her hands over her mouth. She hadn't meant to say so much. Tell him so much. Slowly she looked up into his eyes.  
  
He was staring down at her coolly with thoughtful eyes. He had not known she didn't know ANYTHING about the Ritual. He thought that she had only been excluded bits and pieces, not *everything* but some key elements. Though he couldn't help thinking how her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkled when she talked about something that made her angry. Sesshomaru tilted his head to the side, his slivery locks falling softly over his shoulders. He chose his words carefully. "I have given Jaken two books that might help you learn more about your *situation*."  
  
Kagome looked down, her bangs covering her eyes. "I meant to thank you for them earlier."  
  
He snorted. "Don't thank me. I don't require it nor do I want it."  
  
She felt a sudden pang of sorrow at what he said. It reminded her of Youko. 'It pleases me to see you happy, that is all the thanks I require.' She sniffed and bit her lip. "What are you going to do with me?"  
  
There was silence for a while. He glanced at her sidelong. "The only reason I have not really killed you is because there is a side to myself that stops me. My demon blood is taking my Courting you seriously and it wants to protect you and not harm you." He cut his eyes at her. "Its very annoying having conflicts with myself. I never had until I met *you*." His words were accusatory. "For now, I'll keep you around but give me one reason to get rid of you and I will snap your frail neck before you can even inhale the breath it takes to scream." With that he swept off the balcony and into her rooms.  
  
She sat there for a while. Sesshomaru. He was so strange. He was cold and full of hatred but then he was understanding and intriguing. He was mystery that she'd love to solve. But a part of her heaved. Sesshomaru was a bastard. A bastard that tried to kill Inuyasha. Kagome got up and shook herself. That settled it, he was officially her enemy and she WOULD escape as soon as she got the chance. She hopped onto the bed and drew the covers over her head. Yes tomorrow she would leave this place.  
  
But when she couldn't sleep, she stared at the ceiling, wondering what he would look like if he was human. He would have long fair almost white blond hair. His eyes would a bottomless icy gray. His face would be smooth with creamy skin maybe even lightly freckled. Kagome mentally slapped herself. Sesshomaru was the enemy and that was that. She turned over and squeezed her eyes shut.  
  
But a few tears managed to leak out. Inuyasha. Thinking of him sent a pang in her heart. She messed him so much. She even missed his snide remarks about how stupid and weak she was. She missed the way he glared at her, they way his ears twitched when she yelled, the he smelled. Even if she did get out of here, Kagome could never tell him. He could never feel the same about her.  
  
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Sesshomaru twirled his dagger between his long tapered fingers while he stared into the fire. Kagome. What to do about Kagome? Kill her or keep her? The Book of Truth said he would need her then maybe he shouldn't kill her. But damnit did he want to! But then again he wanted to see her, smell her, be around her. That pissed him off to no end. Human, she was human. A filthy, pathetic, idiotic human.  
  
But what if.What if she was a whole demon? Would he want her then? He closed his eyes and imaged what she would look like. She would have silky straight sliver hair to her waist and a matching soft furry tail that reached the back of her knees. Her skin would be like milk, fair and soft, and her cheeks would have two red stripes. Her eyes would be like pools of melted gold and her slender ears pointed at the top. And she would smell of the beginning of spring and morning dew.  
  
He opened his eyes. If she was a youkai then maybe..maybe..  
  
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Kagome opened her eyes slowly, then snapped them shut when the blinding light reached them. She yawned them attempted to open hers eyes again. She jumped off the bed and stumbled into the bathroom. She was starting to get a headache and her throat was sore. After slashing cold water onto her face she peered into the mirror at her reflection. Her knees almost gave out. There in the mirror, staring back at her was a hanyou.  
  
How could this happen?! It was in the middle of the morning! This was supposed to happen at night, not in the middle of the fucking morning! Kagome sank to the floor and leaned her head on the cabinet. Just when she thought she had everything figured out, everything gets turned upside down. She slowly stood up to look into the mirror and blinked rapidly. She was human. But-what-wasn't she just-didn't she just see...? Maybe her eyes were playing tricks on her. Yes that had to be it.  
  
This was just too much. She was going to escape and she was going to do it now. Human or not. Kagome gathered the two books, sword, and clothes. She walked into her living room and searched the wall for a way to get out. When that didn't work, she set her stuff things and sat in front of wall. With her powers, she prodded at the wall to find it but all that she found was a complex spell designed to keep her in. Growling with frustration, she kicked the wall only to be thrown backwards by the force of the spell.  
  
Kagome got up and looked at her fingers that now had claws. She had not seen wrong. She was a hanyou this morning. Trying to hold on to the power surging through their veins, she got her things and ran out onto the balcony. Slowly and jerkily, her hair grew up to the roof and pulled her up. She gritted her teeth against the pain. She landed on the roof in a crouch before she felt the power drain away from her.  
  
Damn! She was human again! Kagome walked around carefully until she was standing above an open window.  
  
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When Sesshomaru woke up he noticed how late it was. Well not really that late, it was still morning but he usually got up before dawn. He got out of his bed and sat at his desk. Then he just stared at It. The Book of Truth. He still had a lot a questions but he didn't know if he would benefit from the answers. "What should I do about Kagome?"  
  
He opened the book. "You need her." Having the same reply was all the more alarming and annoying. He closed the book again and drummed his claws on the cover. The situation was becoming more and more clear. He would have to keep her around. The Book of Truth was never wrong. Never.  
  
"Lord Sesshomaru." Jaken bowed low. "Anything that you require?"  
  
"Besides something to make some fucking sense, no."  
  
He glanced at him worriedly. "Is it about the child?"  
  
His eyes narrowed until they were dangerous slits. "It's none of your damn business."  
  
"Begging your forgiveness, sire. I thought that if you spoke of it that maybe things would start to come into prospective."  
  
Sesshomaru looked down his nose at him. "I may allow her to stay here."  
  
"If you don't mind my asking, how long, my lord?"  
  
He answered slowly. "For a while."  
  
"Are you considering to take her as your mate?"  
  
He growled, baring his sharp pearly fangs. "I would never desire that vile creature to be my mate. Like I'd want to be stuck with that incompetent wench! She is good for absolutely nothing!"  
  
"But sire don't you know that you have to be compatible in order for you to be her Suitor."  
  
"I know that!" He spat. After calming down slightly he sat back in his chair and pressed his fingertips together. "Its just difficult for me to believe that *I* could be compatible with *her*."  
  
"Think of it sire. You are strong and intelligent. She is a powerful miko and very good at archery. You will cover up any flaws she has easily. Finding a mate is like putting together a puzzle. She and you, my lord, fit."  
  
Sesshomaru sat back a thought it over. It sounded reasonable, but was it the case?  
  
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Kagome listened intently. "Are you considering to take her as your mate?" That was Jaken's voice.  
  
"I would never desire that vile creature to be my mate. Like I'd want to be stuck with that incompetent wench! She is good for absolutely nothing!" And that was without a doubt, Sesshomaru.  
  
She backed up and bit her lip. She trembled in fury. Vile creature?! Incompetent wench?! Good for absolutely nothing?! What that fuck? That mother fucking bastard!!!! How dare he say that about her? He had no right! None! Kagome clenched her fists and closed her eyes as she felt her powers come back to her. She stood and ran across the roof to the menagerie and to her freedom.  
  
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It was silent for a moment when the wind blew in. Sesshomaru's nose twitched, he could smell her, she was close by. His eyes narrowed and he stuck his head out the window and sniffed.  
  
Jaken frowned. "What is it my lord?"  
  
"Kagome is on the roof." He climbed out on to the sill and sunk his claws into the stone and started to climb.  
  
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Kagome ran like the hounds of hell were nipping at her heels. She was so close to escape that she could smell it. Her ear's flattened against her head, trying to block out the sound of the air rushing by. Soon she could see the roof of the menagerie. She smirked victoriously. She was practically home free.  
  
She slammed into something that felt like a brick wall. "Going somewhere?" Sesshomaru growled.  
  
In her moment of shock, her powers slipped away and she was now human. Damnit! Just her luck! "So maybe I am."  
  
He grabbed her arm. "I told you that you leave when I say so."  
  
"Let her go!" They turned to see thirty wolf demons standing on the roof behind them. Sesshomaru glared at them. With his tail he gripped her waist and prepared to kill them all. Kouga tsked. "Not so fast." He nodded to someone in the group. Forward came a wolf dragging a frightened Rin in his jaws.  
  
Kagome's eyes were huge. He wouldn't *really* hurt Rin would he? No, not the Kouga she knew. But then again he did want to eat those people in that village when she first met him...  
  
His lips curled. "Leave it to a wolf to hide behind a child."  
  
"You can let Kagome go or I give the word and my man will eat her. It's a trade, the child's life for Kagome."  
  
Flamez: OoOoOoOo! Sesshomaru has to make a difficult choice and I have left you hanging! Mwhahahahahah! If you want to find out what happens REVIEW!! 


	7. Prior engagements, subsequent enemies, a...

Flamez: *Clears throat* Yes, that is true, Inuyasha did bite Kagome in the first chapter. And yes, in other people's stories that means their mated. *But* in my story that is not the case, that is how she was turned into a hanyou. The purpose of the courting rituals in this fic is to help Kagome choose which one she wants to be with. I wanted to put a different take on mating, I didn't want it to be like other people's stories. Sorry about the confusion .! *Scratches chin* Yeah Kouga is a little too smart for his own good. Wow over 100 reviews!!! I'd like to say thanks to a few reviewers very dear to my heart *sniffles*: Summer Maxwell, Sammyosa92, Aries Gremon (one wicked reviewer), bloodbunny, HellzAZNGrl (sweet name), QtAznChik (hmm any relation to hellz? Maybe not) sunstar-1217, Katherine- the-terrible (lovin the name), kyli the hanyou, chiara-pilot, Evil Black Angel (thank you so much I thought I was the only one pissed about that!) D.Vemon (killer name), Defafaeth Mechque (that is the most creative name I have ever since, its kewl how you came up with it) diablos42069, Animefreak241 (for the long review full of niceness), and everyone else who reviewed!! *blows kisses*  
  
ALSO---I do take in account peoples requests when thinking about the ending of this story. There has been so many times I've made up mind then was swayed again. So who knows what I'll do, hell I don't even know! So when I say I'm not telling what's gonna happen I'm just BS I haven't even thought of an ending yet. But I think a have a pretty good idea that will make a lot of people happy..  
  
Chapter 7 Prior engagements, subsequent enemies, and transitory friends  
  
Sesshomaru looked between the girl he promised to protect and the child he had just started to know. What to do? His stubbornness screamed at him not to hand Kagome over. But what of Rin? Rin was so young and had all of her life ahead of her. She already died once, did he want to see her dead again? She always looked up to him, called him her hero.  
  
Kagome. It was his fault that she was dragged into this in the first place. If he had never brought her here this would never have happened. Did he really want to hand her over to that wolf? Who knows what he would do to her. Did she want to go with him? He peered down at her face, his tail tightening on her waist. Her face was pale, she was looking worriedly at Rin.  
  
He thought he would be keeping Kagome safe by bringing her here. But in turn he put Rin in danger. None of this was fair to her. She was so young and innocent. He wanted to shout in frustration. It shouldn't be so damn hard to choose! She was looking at him now, with wide helpless eyes. Her eyes shifted to Kagome, afraid for her safety. Then she turned her chocolate eyes to Sesshomaru, smiling apologetically. Sorry? Why was she sorry?  
  
Rin lifted her foot and kicked Kouga in the balls. A trick he had taught her himself to use on Jaken when he refused to play with her. "Run Kagome!"  
  
"Rin no!" Kagome shouted. The wolf that held her growled and brought a claw swiftly towards her face.  
  
Sesshomaru roared in anger, instinctively his tail gripped Kagome even tighter before springing forward. He brought his claws down, plunging his hand through the wolf's stomach. He grabbed Rin and threw her off the roof. She screamed as she plummeted down, until she landed on Kagome's soft bed. She wiped the sweat off her forehead, sighing in relief. She had forgotten about the spells under Kagome's balcony. She rolled off and ran out onto the balcony and look up.  
  
Sesshomaru turned to Kouga. "Die bastard!"  
  
The wolf smirked and slashed his claws through his tail. He howled in agony and fell to his knees as his blood sprayed in all directions. Kouga grabbed Kagome and made a move to leap of the roof. Sesshomaru dug his claws into his calf making him sprawl forward. Kagome wiggled out from under the prince and kicked the lord in the face until he let go.  
  
She dragged Kouga up to his feet. "Let's go!"  
  
He put one arm around her shoulders and one under her knees and leaped off the balcony. Sesshomaru readied himself to follow when an avalanche of wolves piled on top of him. He impaled a few with his claws, the rest of them wised up and fled.  
  
Sesshomaru snarled loudly. Not only had some of the wolves escaped and one of them managed to cut off his tail. The pain was excruciating, the worst he had ever felt in his whole life. Including when Inuyasha cut off his arm. His eyes turned red and he was starting to froth at the mouth. He was going to kill the guy who did this to him! He sniffed at the air but couldn't catch his scent. Furious, he punched through the roof.  
  
Rin looked at him and backed up. What was wrong with Sesshy-sama? Where did that bad man take Kagome? Maybe he was upset that Kagome was gone. She knew how he felt, she wanted her back, too. Maybe she could get her back and make everyone happy. She always wanted to repay her hero. Silently she slipped away.  
  
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Kagome glared up at Kouga heatedly. How could he? She thought that Kouga was sweet and caring. But this side of him, child threatening side, she did NOT like. In fact the only reason why she went with him was because she was angrier at Sesshomaru. Now she was starting to think otherwise. Rin was like a sister to her. She wondered briefly about Sesshomaru, he looked pretty hurt when they left..  
  
Kouga glanced down at her, not breaking his stride. "What?"  
  
"Nothing." She spat angrily.  
  
"Really, you can tell me."  
  
After a moment she said. "Were you really going to kill her?"  
  
"No, I don't kill children." He replied indignantly.  
  
"Then why did you do that?"  
  
"Because I knew that he was stronger that me. I needed a split second of his hesitation so I could grab you." He stopped at the edge of a short cliff. Kagome looked around, wondering what was going on. "My brothers, I have found my woman." He held her up so that everyone waiting below could see. She frowned down at him.  
  
There was a strangled outraged cry. Someone pushed through the crowd until they were in the front. "See that you forgot all about me!" Ayame glared up at Kouga. "What's wrong, forgot all about me, didn't you?"  
  
He cocked his head to the side. "Wait I remember. I think.." He muttered the last part.  
  
"I was supposed to marry you! Not *her*!" She pointed a shaking finger at Kagome. "I had completed my training and had came back to see you. Then I heard news that you were looking for your woman. I didn't want to believe it, I had to see it for myself. So its true then, huh? You forgot all about me."  
  
A slow smile of realization spread across his face. "Ayame, its so great to see you! It's been so long, you grown so much." He frowned bemusedly. "I don't remember making you my woman."  
  
She stamped her foot, creating a small crater. "This is her doing! The Kouga I know would never forget his promise!"  
  
Kagome let out an exasperated breath. "Don't drag me into this!"  
  
But Ayame was already up the cliff and standing in front of them. "Drag you? You're the problem!"  
  
"Look here, I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
The wolf tapped her foot impatiently. "I don't think your worthy of Kouga- sama. I, Ayame of the Southern Wolves, Challenges you, Kagome of the Humans, for Passage of Right."  
  
Kagome blinked. She should have read more of the Book of Rituals because she didn't understand a thing she had said except her name. "Come again?"  
  
Kouga clutched her to his chest. "She wants to fight you for me."  
  
She scoffed. "I am not gonna fight anyone."  
  
"I'm afraid you don't have a choice."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
He looked down at her with a pained expression. "If don't go along with the Challenge then I'd have to kill you. It's in the Decree of Demons and the Book of Rituals."  
  
For a moment all the color drained from her cheeks. She had to fight a whole demon who looked like she wanted to kill her. Or she could refuse and just get killed. She sighed, deciding that if she were to die then it might as well be honorable. "Alright I do the challenge of the right for the passage thingy."  
  
Ayame stood there, staring at her. After a while she let out an impatient breath. "Since I Challenged you then you get to pick the arena."  
  
Kagome looked around stupidly. "Um.how about that clearing over there?" The other woman turned on her heel and stalked off in the direction she had suggested. She looked at Kouga who was still clutching her as if she would leave forever if he let go. "Can you let go?"  
  
He closed his eyes and buried his nose in her hair. "I love you Kagome, I don't want you to die. If-if" He couldn't bring himself to say it. "If you lose, tell now if you love me. I want to hear you say it in case-in case that-"  
  
She put her hand over his mouth and he opened his eyes. "First of all, I'm *not* going to die and second of all, you shouldn't worry so much."  
  
"I know I should have more faith in you but Ayame wants to kill you. I can see it in her eyes."  
  
"I can take care of myself." Slowly, hesitantly he let go of her. He kissed her forehead. Kagome gave him a quick hug before following after Ayame.  
  
She stood there in the clearing, tapping her foot so hard that the rocks jumped. The other wolf youkais waiting around in the trees, trying to find a good spot to watch the fight. As soon as Kagome reached them, Ayame lunged viciously at her. She punched her in the stomach. She hunched over, eyes bulging from pain and spitting out blood. The wolf grabbed her hair and threw her through several trees, finally hitting a large rock with an audible slap. She punched her over and over in her stomach. Kagome's head fell to one side, coppery blood filling her mouth and leaking down her chin.  
  
Getting bored with just punching, Ayame lifted her by her collar and threw her into the air. She jumped on top of the rock then up into the air. She kicked Kagome to the ground. Where she landed there was a little Kagome shaped crater. She pressed her foot on her head, knocking her face back into the dirt. "This should teach you to stay in your place, human."  
  
The blood in her mouth was mixing with the dirt. The gritty soil got into her eyes, burning them. She turned to the side and spit out the bloody dirt. All of this was too much! She had never asked for any of this! And just when she thought she could get to see Inuyasha and the others *she* comes all. All attitude, like she'd been having a hard time! Kagome's growls, low at first, grew louder by the second. She felt her hanyou powers rushing back to her. Her now sliver tendrils wrapped around Ayame ankle, lifting her off her back. Slowly she stood and brushed the dirt off her.  
  
Kagome looked at Ayame. "I am so tired of you. Which is a shame since I haven't known you long." Her hair wrapped around her other ankle and two wrists. "I didn't even want to do this." The tendrils yanked at the youkai's limbs pulling them out of their sockets. Then her hair dropped her in a tangled heap on the ground. The hair lashed at her, leaving cuts and welts. She cocked her head to the side and sighed while her hair attacked Ayame. "You know I don't like hurting people."  
  
The wolf popped her limbs back in. "Save the sap for someone who cares." Her claws sliced through the hair that held her. She ran at Kagome with her fist raised. She punched her in the face, there was a faint cracking sound. Blood rushed out of the newly broken nose. Kagome growled in outrage and slashed at her face.  
  
Ayame gasped. All of her veins were glowing silver and the color started draining from her face. Her features were contorted with pain. She fell to her knees clutching her wound. Then without warning, her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she fell forward Kagome rushed to her side and felt for a pulse. It was faint but there.  
  
"Kagome! Kagome! Kagome!" They cheered.  
  
Eyes filled with tears she looked up at them. "Someone help me, I think something is wrong!"  
  
A worried hush fell over the onlookers. Kouga stepped forward. "Is she dead?"  
  
"No, but we've got to take her to Kaede, she'll know what to do."  
  
Gently, the prince lifted her into his arms. "I'll take her."  
  
"I want to go, too."  
  
He looked down at the girl in his arms and then her. "Do you think you can keep up? I'm not sure I want you to be carried there, I don't want anyone else's hands on you."  
  
She rolled her eyes. "I'll keep up lets just hurry up and go."  
  
He nodded and took off in the direction of the village with Kagome not far behind.  
  
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Inuyasha faced the west with his arms crossed. Sango and Miroku glanced at each other, worried. He had been sitting in that tree since Kouga had left yesterday. He didn't sleep, eat, he just stared, growling. Like his brother would hear him and bring Kagome back. Sango shook her head for the thousandth time. "Him just sitting there can't be healthy."  
  
Miroku nodded and sighed. "But what can we do? Every time we get near him he snarls."  
  
"If Kouga doesn't get Kagome back soon, he's just going to waste away."  
  
"I know, but he doesn't care."  
  
Furtively, he slipped his arm around her shoulders and slowly pulled her closer. "That's Inuyasha for you."  
  
"Yeah I know. When his mind is made up there is simply no talking to him." She sighed and shook her head again. Then she smacked him when his hand when father than it was supposed to, but he ducked as a reflex and lifted her by her waist and swung her around. She kicked and struggled. "Put me down!"  
  
"Not until you kiss me."  
  
"Wha-" But she was cut off when he slipped her down and covered her mouth with his. She let him kiss her, stunned. Then a deep blush settled over her cheeks and she kneed him in the balls. He fell to his knees in pain and groaned. "That's what you get you hentai!"  
  
He rolled over and wheezed. "It was worth it." She huffed and stalked away back to the hut, still beet red.  
  
Inuyasha continued to stare off into the distance. Kagome. What has he done to you? Are you okay? Do you even want to come back? His ears flattened at the thought. Why would she want to come back? He *was* always yelling at her. Calling her names. Not letting her go back to her own time. His shoulders slumped a little, losing hope.  
  
Then he saw it, well them would be more correct. Kouga and Kagome. He jumped down from his perch and ran in their direction. He was shocked to see that not only was Kagome hanyou in the middle of the day but she was leaping from branch to branch as fast as Kouga could run. When he caught up to them, Kagome braced her hands on her knees, gasping for breath. "No..Time..Kaede...now.."Her hair turned black and she fell forward, passed out from exhaustion.  
  
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Kaede rattled off orders. "Kouga, put a dagger on the fire. Shippo, get me some dried lavender. Sango bandages, Miroku water, Inuyasha bowl. Now!" They scurried away to do what she told them. "Good." She said when they finished. "Inuyasha, Kouga place Ayame and Kagome right over there." They gently placed them next to Kaede. Once the dagger turned a dull orange, Kouga handed it to her. The older woman eyed them. "In order to save Ayame, I have to make an antidote that's only in Kagome's blood. So I'll have to make some cuts and I don't want you get upset."  
  
Kouga and Inuyasha growled. "CUT?!"  
  
Her eyes snapped. "Yes cut. Unless you want Ayame to die I suggest you let me do it."  
  
Inuyasha crossed his arms. "What do *I* care about her? I don't even know that girl." But his eyes flattened against his head and he looked away.  
  
Kaede cut along the inside of Kagome's arm, her crimson blood welled up. She gathered it in a bowl with the dried lavender and mixed it together. Then she put the bowl over the fire and let it boil. She dipped the bandages in the water and dabbed Ayame's head. Her skin was now putting off a dull silver light and was getting alarmingly hot. Kaede took the bowl of the fire and waved air at it until it was cool. She made a cut identical to Kagome's on Ayame, then carefully poured the antidote into it.  
  
Kouga frowned. "Why isn't anything happening? What's wrong?"  
  
"It will take time for it to circulate, especially since she is immobile."  
  
"What about Kagome?" Inuyasha asked.  
  
"She suffers from only exhaustion. She'll be fine shortly. If you want to help, put a cool cloth on her head."  
  
Inuyasha obeyed, still not liking that he was the only one that seemed concerned about Kagome. He thought she would be stuck with his bastard brother and now that she's not he would never let her out of his sight again.  
  
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Youko opened his eyes and looked around. When he had first came here to meditate, the land was just a grassy field. But now it was lush, full of trees and flowers and shrubs. He meditated he sometimes caused things to grow. He must have been in serious thought to let all of this happen. He usually had more control. Kagome's kidnapping had affected him and he didn't quite know why. The only reason why he wanted to Court her was because she was beautiful and strong. If that was the only reason why her being gone pain him so much? He had come to this field to connect with himself but all he had was more questions.  
  
He looked down at the rose he had given her. She had lost it when Sesshomaru took her. It was wilted slightly. Youko frowned in alarm and reached out again to see if he could feel her presence. Close, she was close. He closed his eyes and sifted the ground beneath his feet until he reached Kaede's hut. He burst in. "Where's Kagome?"  
  
Inuyasha frowned at him. The fox rolled his eyes and shoved him out of the way. "Move aside dog, I *know* what I'm doing." He placed the rose over her heart.  
  
He rolled his eyes. "Wow. That's sure gonna hel-"  
  
"Youko?" Kagome's eyes slowly opened.  
  
"Yes, I'm here. You are okay?"  
  
"Of course she's fine." Kouga said a-matter-of-factly.  
  
The fox turned his cool glare on him. "I don't believe that question was directed towards you. Worry about your girl and let be worry about mine."  
  
Inuyasha and Kouga both growled at this. "She is NOT yours!"  
  
"She will be soon when she realizes how incompetent you two are. You are not worthy of someone like her."  
  
Kagome would have been touched if it were a different situation. Now she just found it annoying. "I'm not anyone's, thank you very much."  
  
Inuyasha snorted. "I just don't want her running off with one of you before we find all the jewel shards."  
  
"Is that all I'm good for?" She hissed.  
  
"Yeah, duh."  
  
Her eyes narrowed until they were dangerous slits. "Si-"  
  
He clamped his palm over her mouth. "Not so fast, forget about our little agreement?"  
  
She frowned before the realization dawned on her face. 'Sorry Inuyasha, it for your own good, I promise I won't sit you for a month.' Kagome glared at him, angry at herself. Why the hell did she promise that? What the fuck was she thinking? A slow smile played across her face as she though of how do get him back with out hurting him. Ah, sweet sweet revenge. "You know, I am kinda bored with this life. Maybe a need a change. Youko, perhaps. Hm?" She turned her glittering eyes to him. "*He* could probably make my life more exciting and adventurous."  
  
Inuyasha sputtered. "Exciting? Adventurous? What the fuck do you call what we do everyday? How could he make your life better? Teaching you to pick pockets?"  
  
Kagome's smile widen as she gazed into Youko's eyes and rubbed the base of his ear. He closed his eyes and leaned toward her hand. "Hm. He has such handsome ears, so much more softer than Inuyasha's. And you're so brave, strong, wise, cunning-"  
  
A growl erupted from his throat. She used to rub *his* ears! "You can shut up now."  
  
"But why would you care if just I just talked about how great Youko is? Hm?"  
  
"He's nothing but a second rate pick pocket."  
  
"Well that's just *your* opinion."  
  
Inuyasha's growls grew louder as he watched Kagome pet Youko. She was right, why did he care?  
  
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Rin ambled along the forest trail. She wondered how long a walk it was to Kagome's village. She hoped it was not long because she was growing hungry, thirsty, and tired. She sighed gratefully when she happened to come across a clearing with a river. Cupping her fingers together, she drank the clear cool water. When she was done she wiped her mouth with her sleeve and looked around. She just noticed a boy farther down the river.  
  
"Um, hello?"  
  
He looked up at her with pleasant chocolate eyes. "Oh hello there, I didn't notice you there. I'm name is Kohaku."  
  
"I'm Rin. Do you live around here?"  
  
"Actually I'm heading toward a village in the east."  
  
"Wow, that's where I'm going."  
  
"We can travel together. I would appreciate the company and I have plenty of food."  
  
"That sounds like a great idea." She got up and followed him out of the clearing.  
  
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Shippou eyed the area alertly. He was supposed to be guarding the hut to make sure that no one barged in or any demons were coming.  
  
"Shoo, out all of you!" Kaede shoved Inuyasha, Kouga, and Youko out of the time. "Ye are making too much noise. Wait outside, I'll make sure nothing happens."  
  
Shippou looked up at Inuyasha with hopeful eyes. "How is Kagome?"  
  
"She's fine." He ground out.  
  
"Geez you don't have to be so mean about it. I'm just concerned is all."  
  
"Just do you job, look around for shit and shut the fuck up."  
  
The kitsune quieted, wondering what was wrong with him.  
  
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Kagome swallowed the stew, keeping her eyes locked on the wall. She knew Ayame was glaring at her and she was trying hard not to look back at her. If she wanted to hate her that was her problem. She was not gonna let her bother her. Then the wolf started growling, making her eye twitch in annoyance. Finally she had to say it. "Will to stop that?!"  
  
"You don't have the right to tell me what to do."  
  
"Wha-"  
  
"You stole him from me. We were supposed to be together after I got back. It was going to be so perfect, but you came along in ruined it. I *hate* you." She spat out venomously.  
  
"I didn't mean to do anything to you. I'm so-"  
  
"Save it." Ayame turned from her to stare out the window, tears welling up in her eyes.  
  
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Rin hummed and skipped along beside her new friend, Kohaku. He was from a small village with an older sister that he loved very much. He had gotten lost and was now trying to find his way back home. He asked about her. She told him about how her village was attacked and about her mother dying. How her hero Sesshomaru saved her and took care of her. Then Kagome came and played games with her. Then a bad man took her away. "Now I'm looking for my friend Kagome." She finished, then frowned at the look on his face. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Shh! I hear something." Kohaku picked up a large heavy branched and looked around wearily. Bandits jumped out of the bushes. He pushed her into a hole under a root. "Stay there until it's safe. Rin heard a lot of cursing, shouting, and a snapping sound that sounded suspiciously like bones breaking. Fear started to well up inside her for her newfound friend. After what seemed like years it was silent, slowly she poked her head out to look around. Kohaku limped over to her. "Rin, I have to leave. I don't know why but those men were after me, you could have been in danger. You have to travel without me, I don't want you to get hurt."  
  
"No Ko-"  
  
He shook his head and grinned sadly. "Yes, it'll be better that way. Take the trail and you'll find the village. Maybe see each other there." He started to walk way.  
  
Rin scrambled out of the hole to stop him, but her foot caught on a root and she tripped. "Kohaku, don't leave!" She cried. But he kept walking until he was out of her sight. Would she ever see him again?  
  
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Kagome shifted, not so comfortable with the silence. It had been deadly silent for a while and the fact that the person who was next to her hated her made the time seem longer. It was evening now, all traces of the sunset was gone. Slowly, she could feel strength trickling back to her. But this time the power felt stronger, more natural. Then she remembered she had some reading she could be doing.  
  
She went through her stuff until she found the Book of Rituals. She read the book from cover to cover. This is what Kagome found out:  
  
Demons mate for life and can only have offspring when they choose to. When a female turns 16, she starts looking for a mate. Females search for the strongest, smartest, handsomest male so that their offspring will be perfect. If the male is interested in a female, he will Challenge her. If she is strong, he will introduce himself. If she is interested she will in turn introduce herself also. The male will be her Suitor for a year, his Symbol will be on her most used arm so that the others will know he is Courting her. A female may have more than one Suitor, thought it is highly unlikely. If that is so then the Symbols will be in order of preference. The Suitors are known to be hostile towards each other, some have even physically injured one another. At anytime during the Courting, if the female is positive she doesn't like the male she will verbally reject him. If she is not sure then she will have no voice to do it.  
  
During the Decision Period, a female can have multiple Suitors but a male cannot. If another female wants the male to Court her she will Challenge the female. They will decide Right by combat. If the female who is Challenged does not accept, the male will declare her unworthy and kill her. The female who is Challenged gets to choose the arena. There must be at least 10 witnesses present. If the Challenger wins the other female may Challenge her later on. If the other female wins there will be no more Challenges. Only if the female rejects the Suitor will the other female be able to have him.  
  
A male's job is to impress the female. He will do anything in his power to get her to accept him. Usually he will give her gifts and grow stronger to show that their offspring will be strong. He will be able to sense the direction of her location when she is far away. At the end of the Decision Period, if she does not want him he cannot Court her again. If she is indecisive, he can try another year. If she picks him, he will Mark her back between her shoulder blades. The Marking is painful for the male and the female, but it is necessary to bind them. When they are marked, they will carry each other's scents. It is strongest around the neck. When a male and female are bound they will be able to sense the exact location of each other. They will develop a deep protectiveness. If their mate dies before the other, they will never have another. Some of the most devoted mates will kill themselves because of their deep sense of loss.  
  
Kagome closed the book, satisfied that she knew everything that she needed to know. She looked down at her hands, surprised to see they had claws. Had she been so engrossed in the book she hadn't notice the transformation? Gingerly, she touched her nose to find that it was no longer broken. She glanced over at the still seething Ayame before deciding to leave the hut. She pushed back the cloth covering the doorway and breathed in the fresh air.  
  
Then she was immediately knocked down when Shippou jumped at her. "I was so worried! Are you okay?"  
  
She ruffled his hair affectionately. "Yeah, I'm all better."  
  
Inuyasha pried the kitsune from her. "Kagome, we need to talk."  
  
She eyed him suspiciously. "About what?"  
  
"You'll find out when we get there."  
  
"Where?"  
  
He grabbed her and hoisted her onto his back and leaped off into the forest. He stopped at a small pond far away from the village. "Here."  
  
She rolled her eyes and slid off his back. "What do you want to talk about?"  
  
"That pick pocket."  
  
"What about him?"  
  
"I don't want you getting so close to him."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because we need those shards, and I don't want you to feel bad when we take them. I've been doing the math, we have ¼ of the jewel. Naraku has half and if you add up Youko's and Kouga's shards they have ¼ also. If we get their shards all we have to do is get Naraku's."  
  
Kagome growled and her eyes turned amber. She crossed her arms and turned away from him. "All you care about is that jewel! Maybe I should have stayed with Sesshomaru, at least he didn't give a fuck about the damn shards!"  
  
"Do you mean that?" He asked quietly.  
  
Slowly she turned around. Kagome's eyes went blank before blazing white. Her feet lifted about four feet off the ground. "INUYASHA."  
  
He resisted the urge to cover his ears. That was not the voice of the Kagome he knew. This voice was so beautiful that it was terrible, obviously not meant for mortal ears. "Who are you?"  
  
"I AM PUNJIA FIRST OF THE ORDER OF THE DEMONS, WIFE OF VANILIY, MOTHER OF ALL. I HAVE COME OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE. KAGOME IS MORE VALUBLE THAN SHE COULD IMAGINE, WHICH PUTS HER AT GREAT RISK. NOT ONLY THAT BUT SHE IS DYING."  
  
Flamez: *Gasp* What?! Now that was unexpected. Looks like evil cliffies are starting to be my trademark. If you want more REVIEW! 


	8. Possesive and possessions

Disclaimer: What the hell do you think?  
  
Flamez: Wow, 150 reviews!! *Grins* THANKS!! People have been asking me when I update, I try to either every Thursday or Friday night. Mostly Fridays, though.  
  
Chapter 8-Possesive and possessions  
  
"What? Why? How?" 'I would have smelled it, it can't be true!'  
  
"I AM SORRY TO SAY THAT YOU ARE PART OF THE CAUSE. IF YOU DO NOT REALIZE YOUR OWN FEELINGS FOR HER SHE WILL SURELY DIE AND SOON."  
  
"My feelings about what?"  
  
She smiled patiently. "I KNOW YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN NOT FEEL FOR HER BUT YOU DO." Her look became serious. "YOUR DOUBT WILL BE HER DOWN FALL, INUYASHA. HER DEFEAT WILL HAUNT YOU IN THE EYES OF HER OWNSELF. HER LOSING HERSELF WILL ULTIMATELY KILL YOU. BUT KNOW THIS INUYASHA, SPEND TIME WITH HER WHILE YOU CAN FOR AFTER THAT YOU CAN NOT HAVE HER WHOLE TO YOURSELF."  
  
"I don't understand."  
  
She slowly lowered to the ground, the light from her eyes dimming. "THAT IS ALL I CAN SAY. FAREWELL YOUNG ONE, LIVE THESE DAYS AS IF YOUR LAST, FOR IF YOU DO NOT DO OF WHAT I SPEAK, THEY WILL BE YOUR LAST PLEASANT ONES." Kagome's feet touched the ground before her knees buckled and she fell.  
  
Inuyasha picked her up and carried her over to the nearest tree. He leaped up onto the branches and adjusted her on his lap. He felt something trickled down his face. Surprised he wiped the blood from his ears. His head still pounded from the force of the voice but he was too concerned about what she said to notice. 'Kagome is dying and it's my fault?'  
  
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Kagome eyes opened slowly, she groaned. Her whole body ached, and the headache was slowly getting worse. She looked around, trying to gather her bearings. She turned her face only to get a view of Inuyasha's neck. A blush spread across her cheeks and as she turned quickly to the other side. She let out a quiet shriek when she saw how high up she was.  
  
Inuyasha shifted. "About time you woke up."  
  
"What am I doing up here? What happened?"  
  
He was silent. Should he tell her what happened? He decided against it. If she really was dying, he didn't want her to live the rest of her days in a panic. "You fainted."  
  
"You're lying." She didn't know how she knew but she could sense it.  
  
How did she know? "Look, if I say you fainted then I'm telling that for a reason, okay? Go with it." He looked out over the forest. She has slept pretty late, it was late afternoon. She was still pretty weak from the night before. 'Dying, she's dying.'  
  
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Shippou sat outside the hut, watching. He wondered how Kagome was doing. Inuyasha had dragged her off and he hadn't seen her since. Sleeping without her warmth had made his night restless. The fact that he had to sleep by Kouga and Youko was not comforting.  
  
Wordlessly, Kouga got up and walked into the hut. Ayame was still asleep on a mat on the floor. He padded quietly over to her and knelt by her side. His childhood friend had came back for him and look what happened. He placed his palm on her cheek, studying the tear stains guiltily. He hated it when women cried, especially when he was the cause. But he truly didn't remember promising to be her mate. And he did still love Kagome. What was he to do?  
  
Shippou shifted, noticing an approaching scent. It was a disheveled raven haired girl. She stopped them and walked up timidly. "Um, excuse me?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Is Kagome somewhere around here?"  
  
He eyed her suspiciously. "Why do you want to know?"  
  
"I'm looking for her."  
  
"She's not here so get lost."  
  
Rin put her hands on her hips. "You don't have to be rude."  
  
"I don't have to be polite." He huffed. She walked over to him and plopped down next to him. The kitsune balked. "What are you doing?"  
  
"I'm waiting for when she comes back."  
  
"Who said I even know a Kagome?"  
  
"If you didn't know Kagome you would have said so instead of saying she wasn't here." She pointed out logically.  
  
Shippou sighed, defeated. Some look out he was! Youko glanced at him coolly with a look that said I-can't-believe-you-let-her-get-one-over-you.  
  
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Kagome eyed Inuyasha wearily while he stretched at the base of the tree. He was keeping something from her and he had been acting weird all morning. He kept glancing at her in disbelief then shaking his head sadly and looked away. She wanted to grab him by his shoulders and yell 'WHAT IS IT?!' Something had happened last night that she was not aware of and it was killing her.  
  
She twirled an ebony tendril of hair around her finger. It was strange how these transformations worked but she thinks she has it figured now. She transforms at night and when she's angry. But if her concentration is broken she turns human again. How strange. Kagome wondered pointlessly whether she preferred being human or hanyou. Being human wasn't that interesting once you've been a half demon. But a hanyou's emotions and senses are so strong and overwhelming it is almost a relief to change back. Honestly, Kagome had absolutely no idea how she felt.  
  
"Lady Kagome." Warm breath tickled her ear as she smelled the faint sense of roses.  
  
"Yes Youko?"  
  
"Let's leave together."  
  
She turned. "Why?"  
  
He regarded her coolly. "Why not?"  
  
"Because..of...um..Inuyasha." She concluded weakly. "Inuyasha will be upset." She glanced in his direction wearily as she saw one of his ears flick in their direction.  
  
Youko shrugged. "I could kill him easily. Do you want me to?"  
  
"No! No, um that's okay." Kagome smack herself inwardly as she saw Inuyasha turn to face them. His eyes narrowed murderously as he stomped over to them.  
  
He cocked his head to the side and peered so close to her face that his bangs brushed hers. "Why are you protecting him? What does he mean to you?"  
  
"What are you doing you mother fucking pick pocket?!" Inuyasha demanded, finally reaching them. Kagome's knees almost gave out in sheer relief. Damn, someone sure loved her up there.  
  
The kitsune managed to sound clam but lightly snarl at the same time. "None of your business mutt."  
  
"Why don't you get the fuck away from her then?"  
  
"Why don't you make me?"  
  
"Why don't we just settle this in a peaceful way?" She asked weakly.  
  
Both of the glared at her. "NO!!"  
  
"The mutt will have to learn his place. A weak mongrel like him doesn't deserve you."  
  
"Deserve her? Like a dirty lying flower picking pocket picker does?" He didn't know what was wrong with him. Just the thought of the fox touching her make his blood boil with rage.  
  
Youko's eyes flashed angrily but after a glance at Kagome, who was still a few inches from his face, he shook his head. "My lady says I mustn't kill you so fighting would be pointless." He leaned in closer to Kagome, their noses almost touching. "Let's leave this dog, I could take you wherever you want to go."  
  
Inuyasha growled and grabbed Kagome, pulling her to him. "Get your filthy paws off her!"  
  
He smirked at him. "Funny, I should be saying that to you."  
  
Kagome wriggled to get out his hold but to no avail. He slipped his arms around her waist and yanked so her back was pressed to his chest. "Fuck off, she doesn't want you!"  
  
Damnit, she knew all too well were this was going to go. 'Why, Kami why do you always put me into these situations!' Youko looked straight into her face. "Do you want me Lady Kagome?"  
  
Her face reddened in mortification. She wanted to find a rock to curl under and die. She secretly expected Kouga to interrupt but he was nowhere in sight. Now she was getting so desperate she prayed Sesshomaru would come. Fuck that, even Naraku would be a blessing. Seconds ticked away like years. Kagome opened and closed her mouth several times, looking like a fish out of water. "I..well..you see..um...well..that's kind of a personal question...let's see..."  
  
"Just hurry up and answer the fucking question!" Inuyasha interrupted impatiently.  
  
Youko smiled crookedly. "Yes my lady, an answer would be nice."  
  
"Impnmlplh." She muttered then said more clearly. "Well, now that that's settled-"  
  
Inuyasha took her chin gently but firmly in his fingers and turned her to face him. "It's not settled."  
  
The kitsune smiled smugly. "I have all the answer I need."  
  
Inuyasha and Kagome gawked at him. 'What is with this guy? It's like he doesn't need me to answer his questions.' The hanyou shook himself from his shock. "I don't care, I'm still gonna rip you apart."  
  
He rolled his eyes, bored. "I thought we done with that trivial matter. Lady Kagome, I don't know how you can stand his presence. His stench alone is enough to keep most away."  
  
"If my smell is so offensive then why don't you leave you damn pansy?"  
  
"I'm not leaving until my lady is ready to come with me."  
  
"Who says she wants to go with you?"  
  
"Who says she doesn't?"  
  
'Fuck, shit, damn, fuck, fuck.' She cursed in her head. Why? Why? Why? Was this some sort of fucking pattern? Back her into a corner and ask personal questions. She had to stop this quickly. "Wow, I'm hungry! I'll make ramen if someone gets my bag from the hut." The two men took off, leading a dust trail behind them.  
  
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Rin stared at Shippou's face. He glared out of the corner of his eye at her. "What?"  
  
"What are you?"  
  
He puffed out his chest. "I am a fox demon."  
  
"Why do you have a ribbon in you hair if you're a boy?"  
  
He deflated a little. "It's not a ribbon!"  
  
"Then what is it?"  
  
"It was my father's sash but it was ripped in half so I use it to tie my hair out of face."  
  
She scooted closer. "You sound like you love him."  
  
"Yeah, he was the greatest. He was really strong and powerful, he taught me all the illusions I know." He looked down sadly. "But he's dead now."  
  
She looked away, and then tried to cheer him up. "Your dad is way better than mine. He was a farmer and the crops weren't doing well that year and he had some debts to pay off. So he was going to sell me into slavery to pay off the money he owes."  
  
Shippou frowned, shocked. "His own daughter? How could he?"  
  
She shrugged indifferently but there was still a hint of sadness in her eyes. "He's my father, I was just a girl and couldn't pull my weight."  
  
"That's the biggest piece of crap I have ever heard in my life. Girls may not be as smart and strong as guys but some are. Like Kagome she's really great a bow-" He clamped his paws over his mouth.  
  
She grinned widely. "So you do know her! I kind of guessed that."  
  
He hit himself in the head, then flailed frantically. "Don't tell Inuyasha! He'll never let me live it down!"  
  
Rin wrinkled her nose. "Inuyasha, that's the bad man Sesshomaru-sama doesn't like."  
  
"I don't like him either but I don't like Sesshomaru more."  
  
She crossed her arms. "Don't talk about him like that."  
  
"I say whatever I want to. It's not like you could do anything about it."  
  
She stood and grinned sweetly at him. "Oh yeah." He crossed his arms and nodded affirmatively. Rin grabbed his tail and lifted him up so he was hanging upside down.  
  
He struggled and kicked. "Put me down!"  
  
She giggled, highly amused. "You're much more fun than Jaken."  
  
"There's nothing funny about this." 'How embarrassing!'  
  
"Sessy-sama taught me this, see he's not that bad!"  
  
"I'll show you bad if you don't put me down now!"  
  
"Are you gonna say sorry?"  
  
"No!!!"  
  
"Then I'm not letting you down."  
  
He growled lightly before pulling out a ball and throwing it. As soon as it hit the ground Rin was shrouded in a cloud of smoke. She coughed in alarm and dropped him. Shippou landed rather painfully on his head before scrambling to his feet. By the time the smoke cleared the girl was blinking rapidly and looking around for him. Shippou snuck up behind her and tugged lightly on her ponytail. When she turned he stepped back and stuck his tongue out at her.  
  
Rin grinned before leaping at him. They both went crashing down to the ground. She pinned his shoulders down. "Sessy-sama is better than Inuyasha."  
  
He flipped her over. "Inuyasha could kick his butt."  
  
She wiggled to get out of his hold but couldn't. "Uh uh!"  
  
"Yeah huh!"  
  
"Uh uh!"  
  
Yeah huh!"  
  
"Uh-"  
  
"Aren't you two a little too young for that?" A breezy voice asked them.  
  
Shippou sprang from Rin looking slight nauseous at the thought. "Ew!"  
  
She frowned slightly at the two kitsunes. "Too young for what?"  
  
He crossed his arms smugly and tried to look down his nose at her but he was shorter. "You wouldn't know, you're just a little kid!"  
  
"I'll be 9 soon!"  
  
Youko shook his head and walked into the hut. He rummaged around in Kagome's bag before strolling out. A few moments later Inuyasha leaped into the hug grabbed something and left.  
  
Shippou frowned slightly as he watched him leave. "I wonder what they were looking for."  
  
She ignored his question. "Too young for what?"  
  
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Kagome sat on a rock and gazed into the river's clear water, confused. When Youko looked at her, when he was close to her, her heart thudded in her chest. She wrapped her arms and breathed in, still able to smell him on her. She was positive she loved Inuyasha. But was it possible to be attracted to someone else.  
  
Kagome sighed and propped her chin on her hand. She supposed it was possible. Damn she was flighty. Inuyasha was nothing but loyal to Kikyou. She thought she could be the same with him, even though he would never feel the same about her. Although, was there a reason to be loyal? Was there even a reason?  
  
"Lady Kagome." Youko held out six packages of ramen and a pot. She smiled and reached for them. He grabbed her hands. "We could leave right now. The mutts not here yet."  
  
She shook her head and took the food. "I thought we already talked about this." She filled the pot in the stream and set it on top of the fire she had started earlier.  
  
He shrugged. "You could have changed your mind."  
  
"Do you ever give up?"  
  
"Not until I get what I want."  
  
Kagome blushed deeply and stared at the pot with attempted interest. "Look at that *cough* the water has almost started to boil."  
  
Youko came up behind her. "Do you love him Kagome? Is that why you won't come with me?" He asked in a slightly upset voice.  
  
She turned so she could face him. She blinked for a moment she hadn't known how close he was until now. With her stomach pressed against his she looked up at him. "I don't trust myself, okay. I mean, I just met you and look at us. You've tricked me so many times I don't know why I trust you in the first place. I think that get too comfortable too quickly with people."  
  
He looked down at her searchingly. "You don't trust me?"  
  
"It's not that I *don't* trust you." She breathed, exasperated. "It's the fact that I *shouldn't* trust you that's the problem."  
  
Whatever it was forming behind his eyes disappeared. He smiled with satisfaction. "Very intelligent of you, dear lady. You're right, you shouldn't trust me but I want you to."  
  
She shook her head and looked away. "You're a mystery."  
  
He took her chin in his cool fingers and turned her so that she faced him. "And you're a challenge."  
  
"Get away from her, thief." Inuyasha snarled.  
  
"This doesn't concern you, mutt."  
  
"Hell yeah it doesn't!"  
  
"Why? What is Kagome to you?" Inuyasha was taking aback by the question. Yes, what was she to him anyway?  
  
Whole minutes passed by, Kagome turned to dump the noodles in the water. She stirred the noodles, examining them with care before putting in the seasoning. She poured it into three bowls. When she turned back around she saw that Youko was looking at Inuyasha and Inuyasha was looking at her. "Heh, ramen's ready." She said weakly.  
  
It took moment for the two men to move from their spot. They took the bowls and sat on either side of her. The stifling silence was killing her. It wasn't even the hostile kind that she had grown accustomed to, it was the thoughtful kind. And the fact the thoughts were about her was so unnerving. Kagome finished her noodles and looked around. "I need to stretch my legs, I'm going to go on a walk." There were two acknowledging grunts. She got up and walked off causally. Oh, she was going on a walk alright, she was going to walk her ass to the well to go home.  
  
When she reached the well with no problem, she sighed with relief. Kagome hopped over the side and landed at the bottom. She hadn't been home in so long, she hoped her family wouldn't be worried about her. She opened to door to her house. "Hey, I'm home!" No answer, that was strange.  
  
Kagome walked into the kitchen and took a note of the refrigerator. It said they went to Souta's soccer game and they would be back after 6. She smiled when she was done reading. It was just like her mother to leave a note just incase she happened to come back while she was away. She stuffed home cookies into her pocket then trudged up the stairs and flung herself onto her bed. Ah, a real bed. It felt so good after spending the night in a tree branch. The last time she slept in a real bed was..  
  
Kagome turned and stared at the ceiling. Sesshomaru. How was he doing? Did she do the right thing by leaving? Yes of course! This was ridiculous, why would she think such a thing?! Could she possibly care about that coldhearted killer? She bit her lip and shook her head. Not that was impossible! They were all wrong for each other and that was that.  
  
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Sesshomaru stood on the boulder and sniffed at the air. This was puzzling and frustrating. He could not catch Rin's, Kouga's, or Kagome's scent. But he could smell Jaken easily from five miles away. He didn't have time for this! He had to find Rin and kill that bastard wolf!  
  
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"Wake up!"  
  
Kagome sprang up. "What? Huh?" She hadn't even noticed she had fallen asleep.  
  
Inuyasha leaned forward, his nose scant inches from hers. "Going for a walk huh?"  
  
She folded her arms and looked away stubbornly. "I didn't say *where* I was going."  
  
"How can I trust you if you keep trying to run off like this?"  
  
She sputtered. "Trust me? Since when did wanting to go home become untrustworthy?"  
  
"Since-since-now! That's when!" He slung her over his shoulder and made for the window.  
  
"Inuyasha si-"  
  
"Remember your promise?" Kagome seethed. Damn that stupid promise! She made a point to struggle and kick. There was an 'oof' when her knee clipped his nose. "Watch it, will ya?" He dropped down into the well.  
  
She huffed, irritated. "What's your problem lately anyway?"  
  
"Feh, I don't know what you mean."  
  
"Sure you don't." She rolled her eyes but let him carry her back to the village.  
  
Shippou looked up from his conversation with someone. "Kagome!" Inuyasha let her slid out of his grip. The young kitsune pounced on her. "You're always leaving!"  
  
She ruffled his hair affectionately. "I'm sorry Shippou, I've been pretty busy lately."  
  
He sniffed at her pocket. "Is that a cookie?"  
  
Kagome smiled and surrendered them to him. "Here you can have them." He took them happily and scampered back to the doorway of the hut to enjoy them. It was then that she noticed who he had been talking to. "Rin? What are you doing here?"  
  
She hugged her leg and looked up at her. "I came to take you home."  
  
Inuyasha snorted. "We just got back from her house."  
  
Rin frowned at him. "You just got back from Sesshy-sama's castle?"  
  
He growled, baring his teeth. "That place ain't her home."  
  
She stuck out her tongue. "Yes it is."  
  
"Look here you little runt-"  
  
"It's okay Inuyasha." Kagome crouched down to look the girl in the eye. "That was not my home. I don't belong there, I was just...visiting. I belong here with Inuyasha and the others."  
  
Inuyasha nodded. "Get it now runt?"  
  
She sniffed. "Why don't you want to stay with me? I thought you liked me."  
  
"I do! But everyone has a responsibility. I have to stay here and help them find the jewel shards."  
  
Rin perked up. "Then you'll stay with me."  
  
"Well..no, but you can visit me whenever you like."  
  
He frowned. "This ain't no daycare."  
  
"Shut up Inuyasha. Do you understand?" The girl sniffed and nodded. "Good."  
  
Kaede stood in the doorway of the hut. "Good, ye back. Go fetch some water for supper."  
  
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The meal, like every other one, was tense. Kouga sat next to Ayame but looked longingly at Kagome. Ayame glared venomously at Kagome. Inuyasha kept glancing thoughtfully and worriedly at her. Youko did not wish to eat but sat back from everyone, keeping an eye on Kagome. Kagome kept her eyes carefully on a wall. Shippou and Rin chatted, oblivious to everyone else around them.  
  
Kagome coughed. "I'm going for some fresh air."  
  
Inuyasha stood. "No you're not."  
  
"Don't tell me what to do."  
  
"I'll do what ever the hell I want, and I say you ain't going." She rolled her eyes and walked defiantly out the hut. He caught up with her quickly. "Did you hear what I said?"  
  
"Oh yeah I heard, I'm just choosing to ignore it."  
  
"Do need any help putting a leash on the dog?" Youko was leaned casually against the doorframe.  
  
"No, that's okay. I need to talk to him anyway." Hesitantly, the kitsune went back into the hut.  
  
"What did you want to talk about?"  
  
"I'll tell you when we get far enough away." She stopped at the pond he had taken her to the day before. They were silent for a while, watching the sunset. Once the last bit of auburn left the sky, Kagome transformed. She flexed her muscles, reveling in the power that coursed through her veins. Finally she spoke. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"Don't lie, I can tell when you are. You keep looking at me like something's wrong. Something happened last night, didn't it? Something important that you won't tell me?"  
  
He blinked at her before his eyes went blank and blazed white. He floated about an inch off the ground and drawled. "I AM VANILIY SECOND IN ORDER OF THE DEMONS, HUSBAND OF PUNJIA, FATHER OF ALL. AND I HAVE SOMETHING IMPORTANT TO TELL YOU, KAGOME."  
  
She had fallen to her knees. The voice was so powerful, her insides vibrated. Kagome's ears flattened to try to block out the sound. "Important?"  
  
"YES, VERY IMPORTANT. YOU HAVE A CHOICE TO MAKE, KAGOME. LIVES, THE FATE OF EVERYONE DEPENDS ON IT."  
  
"What choice do I have to make?"  
  
"YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE WHICH ONE YOU WILL BE WITH. IF YOU MAKE A MISTAKE, BAD THINGS WILL BEFALL THE ONES YOU CARE ABOUT. YOUR FRIENDS WILL BETRAY YOU AND IN TURN YOU WILL BETRAY YOUR FRIENDS. YOUR WEAKNESSES WILL BE EXPOSED AND YOUR WILL BROKEN. AND THE ENTIRE HUMANITY WILL CRUMBLE."  
  
"How do I choose? How will I know it is right?"  
  
He smiled ruefully. "AH, CHILD, THAT WILL NOT BE EASY. THERE WILL BE TIMES THAT YOU WILL DOUBT AND TIMES THAT YOU WILL SUFFER. IT WILL TAKE YOU A WHILE FOR YOU TO SEE. IN ORDER TO DO THAT YOU MUST NOT SEE." He picked up a blade of grass and pulled it apart as if he was fascinated by it. "IN ORDER TO BELIEVE YOU MUST DOUBT. IN ORDER TO SAVE YOU MUST KILL. IN ORDER TO LOVE YOU MUST HATE. IN ORDER TO BE COMPLETE YOU MUST BE INCOMPLETE. IN ORDER TO LIVE YOU MUST DIE."  
  
"I don't understand, what do you mean?"  
  
"THAT IS ALL I CAN SAY, CHILD. I MUST LEAVE YOU NOW." He said almost regretfully. "YOU HAVE A DIFFICULT ROAD TO WALK, I HOPE YOU CAN SURIVAL THE ORDEAL YOU MUST FACE." Inuyasha's legs buckled and he fell to the dirt.  
  
Kagome dragged him to the base of the tree and put his head in her lap. She ran her hand through her hair nervously. She looked at her hand when she felt something wet, blood. The voice was hard to listen to even for that short period of time. It ripped at her insides and pulled at her consciousness. She started down at Inuyasha's face, still stunned by what he said. In order to live she must die. When? Now, fifty years from now?  
  
She looked up at the sky and whispered. "Why must I do this?"  
  
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Punjia glared at him. "Must you be so causal about this?"  
  
"What's the point of formality?" Vaniliy drawled. "I am not saying the situation isn't extremely dangerous. But you need to calm down."  
  
"Calm down? You want me to calm down? How can I, you know what's at stake here."  
  
He nodded gravely. "Yes I do."  
  
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Kagome sat at the base of that tree wide awake for hours. She had to pick and she finally made her decision. Inuyasha, she would choose him. It made the most sense and she wondered why it took her so long to decide. She loved him and she would stay by his side. She peered down at his face which was tight with a pained expression. It hurt her to see him like this, especially when she couldn't do anything about it.  
  
(Inuyasha's Dream)  
  
He was running in the dark, he couldn't see a thing. Then only quick flashes of light illuminated the area for short periods of time. Kagome was on his back, she a human. He didn't know how he knew. Then a cold wind ripped her from his back and shoved a hanyou Kagome in his arms.  
  
"Who is going to be?" A voice asked from somewhere in the darkness  
  
He gripped Kagome tightly against his chest. "Going to be what?"  
  
Kagome was ripped from his grip. The voice sneered. "Took you too long to answer."  
  
Inuyasha turned and smacked into Kikyou. "Kikyou! What are you doing here?"  
  
"Come with me Inuyasha. Come to Hell with me like you promised. You promised me Inuyasha. You promised."  
  
He backed up and turned to come face to face with a full demon Kagome. Her eyes full of hurt. "How could you?" She ran towards Sesshomaru, they started to disappear together.  
  
"Forget Kikyou! Come back Kagome!"  
  
The voice laughed with malice. "You lost her forever, Inuyasha. You killed her, she doesn't want you. She loves me."  
  
(end dream)  
  
Inuyasha struggled and sweated. Kagome listed to the words he mumbled worriedly. "Kikyou...forget.....Kagome.."  
  
Deep hurt well up inside her. 'Forget me?' It felt like she had just been kicked in the stomach. She felt so sick she was dizzy. Her body wracked slightly as she tried to keep her tears locked in. Kagome had known he could never love her, but deep down she hoped he would have room in his heart for her. The emotion pain was almost unbearable. Slowly she tried to ease his head off her lap but he tossed and turned when ever she tried.  
  
"Lady Kagome?" Came the whisper from a shadow. "Are you okay?"  
  
She peered through the darkness, looking straight at Youko. "I'm fine." She said but her voice cracked.  
  
"Don't lie, what did that dog do to you?"  
  
"Nothing, I said I was fine." She hissed, alarmed that the subject of the conversation's ear just swiveled towards her.  
  
"You're crying."  
  
"I am not *sniffle* crying."  
  
"If you come with me, I'll never hurt you."  
  
Kagome was silent for a while. "Why?"  
  
"You're intelligent, strong, witty, and radiant. You're everything I want and this will be the *only* time I will *ever* say this so you better remember."  
  
She laughed lightly. She could sense that he was telling the truth. Why not? He was a great guy, no matter how many times he tricked her. He obliviously cared for her. And he had even managed to make her laugh. But did she love him? Was she just rushing in? "I'll go wherever you want me to." Kagome whispered so low he barely caught it.  
  
Youko's eyes glittered even in the darkness. "Now to get you out." He walked over to her and carefully pulled her out from under Inuyasha's head and immediately replaced her with her bag.  
  
She smiled crookedly at him. "Now where would you learn to do something like that?"  
  
"Oh that's just a little something I picked up." The thief slipped an arm across her shoulders and one under her knee. "Are you sure you want to go with me?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
He smiled brilliantly before shifting the earth beneath his feet.  
  
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"KAGOME!!" Inuyasha sprang up, sweat plastered all over his body. The whole night was full of nightmares of Kagome leaving him because he broke some promise. Then she would leave him for Sesshomaru, Kouga, or Youko. In the last most startling one, she died. Kagome fell forward into the dirt and didn't stir. Then her spirit left her body and went to Sesshomaru saying that she would love him forever. There was also this eerie voice that was familiar but something made him forget whose it was. It said things like, 'She's mine now' 'She hates you' 'You killed her' 'You lost her' 'Its your fault'.  
  
He sighed with relief. It was only a dream, it wasn't real. He fell back down but realized it felt wrong. Inuyasha looked behind him, Kagome was gone. He sniffed at the air and picked up two scents. Kagome's and Youko's. He howled in anger that that thief dared to take her away. 'Watch out you son of a bitch, I'm coming for you.'  
  
Flamez: *Sniffles* Poor Kagome, she thinks he doesn't like her! Wah! Will she be happy with Youko or will something else totally unexpected happen? *cough* Hint, hint *cough*. REVIEW!!! 


	9. roses are red, voilets are blue

Flamez-Happy belated Thanksgiving! Whoa, did I say there were five, I'm sorry I must have made a mistake. There are only four people Courting Kagome. The red fang was a mistake too, when I wrote that chapter I was on cold medicine so I made some errors. Sesshomaru's mother and father were not mated in my story. They just wanted a child so they had one. Aries-I read it and loved it. As for a new character I think I could do that in a later chapter. *Winks* Only for you. Well.that and it was a good idea. That's gonna change the whole ending around, but it adds more to the storyline... I put a little pronunciation helpers next to some new names. I don't know if I'm the only one but the little pronunciation key in the dictionary doesn't help me so my way of doing it is different.  
  
Chapter 9- Roses are red, violets are blue  
  
Kagome waited until the wave of nausea went away. She would never get used to his earth shifting. Youko frowned and peered around his palace. She gazed up at his annoyed face. "What's wrong?"  
  
"Someone has broken into my home. They disabled a portion of the spells."  
  
She looked around with puzzlement. "How can you tell?"  
  
"I can see the spells."  
  
"See? You can see spells."  
  
"Here, let me show you." He touched his cool fingers to her forehead. Suddenly she could see an intricate weaving of black light, layers on top of layers. In the middle was a little man shaped opening. When he withdrew his fingers all the black disappeared. "See, some one had entered through there."  
  
"Do you know who it was?"  
  
He sniffed. "Sesshomaru."  
  
"Why would he want to get into your home?"  
  
"I do have many valuable artifacts, but I think stealing is beneath him." Youko said with a wry smile. He carried her to an iron gate and set her down. "Stay in my gardens while I get some rooms prepared for you."  
  
Kagome pushed the gate open and was immediately confronted with a wonderful smell. It was humid, and time seemed to slow. She walked around a grand water fountain full of gold fish and plated with gold. Quickly, she turned away from it. It reminded her of Sesshomaru's fountain. Wanting to get a good view of the rest of the gardens, she climbed a tree. She gasped, it went on for acres and acres. It had many strategically placed founds, cherry blossoms, and flowers, mostly roses.  
  
"Your rooms are ready." Youko said from the base of the tree.  
  
She jumped down. "Your garden is amazing. The roses are lovely!"  
  
"You like roses?"  
  
Kagome nodded affirmatively. "Yes, especially the white ones and the red ones."  
  
He smiled and took her hand. "Your rooms look over the garden and a lake on the other side of the palace. You're in the west facing wing. I hope you don't mind but I need the sun in the morning. I'm in the east wing and Kyre (kai-re) insisted we were on the opposite sides for your reputations sake." He rolled his eyes. "Kyre is a servant but she acts like she's my mother. Kyre's cousins will work for you, Atto (at-two), Qunei (Q-nye), and Elzim (Ls-m), there about 13 of your years I think. Here we are." He stopped in front of two ornately carved doors. "Ciwv (Quive)!"  
  
A teenage boy came out of almost nowhere. He bowed. "Yes sire?" Youko leaned and whispered something in his ear. "Right away sire." He disappeared around a corner.  
  
In his wake a teenage girl came down the hall. She had straight emerald hair and slanted emerald eyes, chestnut skin, white stripes running down her arms and legs, and pointed ears. She was wearing furry white cuffs on her wrists and ankles, a short white fur skirt and vest. Gold bells hung around her waist and neck. She smiled at Kagome. "So this is the mystery woman?"  
  
Youko smiled at girl warmly. "Yes, so what do you think?"  
  
Her bells jingled as she sauntered over to her. The girl circled her, sniffed at her and looked at her with a scrutinizing eye. Kagome looked at her warily. She was gorgeous and Youko was so friendly with her. She stopped in front of her and grinned, showing small pointy teeth. "Hello, I'm Kyre."  
  
Kagome relaxed a little, feeling less threatened by her presence. He had said she was like a mother, he didn't like her like that. "Hello, I'm Higurashi Kagome."  
  
Youko coughed. "I'm have to go on an errand, I'm be back soon. Kyre will show you around."  
  
Kyre smiled and shooed him away. "Go, go, I have everything under control here." He nodded and left. She pulled a key from a pocket on her vest. "Here this is yours. Go ahead take a look."  
  
Kagome took the key. "Thanks."  
  
"No need to thank me. Just doing my job."  
  
She opened the door and was greeted by the similar smell from the garden. The room was full of white roses, the were on the table, bookshelf, shelves. But not took many where it would be annoying. She had a living room, bed room, bathroom, mini library, and a terrace that led to the garden. The walls were cream with oak and burgundy furniture.  
  
Kagome walked around the bedroom. The bed was craved from an oak and the sheets were soft cotton. 'At least I don't have to jump to get in it.' She fell onto it and sighed. Sleep would be good right now. She crawled to the pillows and picked up a single red rose, her life rose. The petals were silky and red. She ran her fingers over it before setting it to the side and going to sleep.  
  
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"I think she's a witch."  
  
"Hush, Elzim. That's nonsense."  
  
"Please, Qunei, you know Youko is not usually this.nice. He hasn't killed anyone today."  
  
"What's so wrong with that?"  
  
"Well, he has such a short temper. When the man that's always skirting his taxes came in, he let him off only charging him all of his sheep."  
  
"Only? His living is selling sheep, without them he won't be able to feed his family. They'll probably be homeless by the end of the month."  
  
"Yeah whatever, you're not getting the point though. He *didn't* kill him. Remember when that man who was impersonating a priest started charging to marry people. He killed him without a thought."  
  
"So? That man deserved it. Those poor people thought they were married only to be told they weren't. That's despicable!"  
  
"That girl is witching him to be nice. Why would he want her anyway? Everyone knows he only like intelligent, strong, beautiful women. She's scrawny, no muscle mass or figure. And she doesn't look all that smart to me."  
  
"Give her a break she's sleeping, use your common sense."  
  
"We should be quiet, we could wake her."  
  
"Aw shut up Atto, I'm trying to make a point here."  
  
"Don't tell her to shut up. You shut up Elzim."  
  
Kagome groaned and rolled over, trying to block out the voices. Slowly she opened up her eyes to look at the three girls in the middle of her room. All three of them looked like miniature versions of Kyre. "Um, excuse me."  
  
They all turned around to face her. One of them wailed "See I told you we would wake her! I'm so sorry my lady, I'll start your fire right way." She had her long emerald hair out and down her waist. The bells around her waist and neck were silver, not gold like Kyre's.  
  
"No, no, that's okay. I'm not mad." Kagome said, trying to reassure the girl who was close to tears.  
  
One of the other two girls leaned and whispered in the other girl's ear. She had her hair up in a high ponytail, a white furry head band tied in the back, and several silver hoops in both of her pointed ears. "See, she's even made Atto cry."  
  
The girl rolled her eyes. She had her hair in a long braid that stopped just below the small of her back. She tugged at the silver bells around her neck. "Atto's *always* crying. Please grant my sister Elzim pardon, she has a quick mouth and a slow brain."  
  
Kagome shook her head. "Look you don't have to do anything. I can handle the chores myself."  
  
All three of them look scandalized. "My lady, surely you are too delicate to do this servants work." Atto tried to reason.  
  
Elzim smirked and crossed her arms. "Let her do it herself then. She'll learn how foolish she was quickly."  
  
Atto clamped her hand over Elzim's mouth in horror. "My lady, she's only hot and knows not of what she speaks."  
  
She pulled her hand off, annoyed. "Of course I do. She may have Youko fooled but not me."  
  
Qunei cuffed her. "Keep your mouth shut! You have no right to be rude."  
  
Kagome shrugged. "I don't care, let her talk. Not that it matters what she says or thinks about me. I could careless."  
  
The corners of Elzim's mouth curved down in contempt. "Just like a lady, she's thinks she's better than us."  
  
She sighed. "First of all I'm not a lady, I'm a normal 17 girl okay. Second of all I don't think I'm better than you, I just don't like you."  
  
Atto giggled behind her hand as Qunei broke out in a grin. "Now, I know why Kyre likes you so much."  
  
She was taken aback. "What?"  
  
"Oh yeah sure. She told us about you." She went and put some logs in the fireplace, ignoring the girl's pervious request. "She says you're different."  
  
"I don't know if that's a compliment." Kagome muttered.  
  
Atto gasped. "Oh, my lady, we almost forgot. We are to dress you for breakfast with my lord."  
  
Qunei took her wrist and led her to a part of the room that was shielded by a screen. "How silly of me to let my duties waver!" She pushed the screen back and pursed her lips. There were racks and racks of kimonos, some cream, pale yellow, red, burgundy, or pink. She shook her head and pushed through each one. "Nope, no, not right, wrong color-"  
  
Elzim rolled her eyes. "Who cares? Just pick one."  
  
She glared at her over her shoulder. "Number one, she has to look just right. Number two, last time I checked dressing was *my* job. Number three, shut your mouth because you don't know anything." Qunei pulled a kimono off the rack and held it up against Kagome. She shook her head and clicked her tongue and put it back on the rack. Finally after much deliberation, she decided on a cream cotton inner kimono and a silk pale pink outer kimono with tiny gold leaves stitched on the hem. With some arguments from Kagome, Qunei dressed her. She wrapped the gold obi around her waist and stepped back. "Ah perfection."  
  
Elzim snorted and tucked the polished Aisaiga into her obi. Kagome looked down at it, puzzled. "Where did you get this?"  
  
"My job is to polish it not know its past whereabouts."  
  
Qunei slapped her head lightly. "Youko had it brought along with the roses."  
  
Elzim crossed her arms and turned away from them. "Hmph, it's not like a scrawny girl human like her could lift it let alone wield it."  
  
"Oh, Elzim." Kagome said sweetly. The girl turned to face a blade a hair from her nose. She looked from the point to her face, noticing that her chocolate eyes had a hint of gold flecks. "I'm not exactly human, so next time watch what you say because my sword might be closer." She slipped Aisaiga back into her obi and smiled at her. "Nice work polishing, it looks better than new."  
  
Atto cleared her throat timidly. "Um, my lady, breakfast is starting in a few moments and you need to be there."  
  
The three girls pushed her out into the hall and to the banquet room. It had a high ceiling with a painted of sliver foxes taking jewels from a lion. The windows were large stained glass with pictures of leaves and branches. The walls were a warm gold. There was a small low table on a raised dais by an ornate fireplace with two pillows. In the center of the room was a large gold plate about 4 feet in diameter, next to it was an even larger silver plate 8 feet in diameter.  
  
Atto gave her another nudge. "You sit there." She pointed the small table by the fire.  
  
Kagome walked over to it slowly and sat on one of the pillows. As soon as her butt made contact the doors opened and a horde of servants strode it. They all had emerald hair and eyes. The girls looked similar to Kyre and the others but not by much. They wore the same clothes but some wore silver or gold coins, links, beads, or other things around their waist and neck. The boys wore furry white vests and loose pants. The each wore one gold or silver bell, coin, link, bead, or other things dangling from their left pointy ear. All the servants wearing silver stood around the silver plate and all the servants wearing gold stood around the gold plate. She noticed that the servants around her age wore gold and the servants around Qunei's age wore silver.  
  
Youko strode in through a back door by the hearth that Kagome hadn't noticed. He sat on a pillow next to Kagome. The servants in gold sat the servants in silver. Men came in with the food. They put a bowl of fruit, salad and a beautiful arrangement of other vegetables on their table. They put one huge roasted black bear in the gold plate and three roasted black bears on the silver. The servants waited until both Kagome and Youko stared to eat before ripping savagely into their meals. Kagome stared at them with unbelieving horror as they tore through the meat with their teeth, fighting for the best spots.  
  
Youko grinned slightly. "It is their way, who are we to change it?"  
  
She smiled weakly at him and tried to eat but she felt nauseous. She could hear the flesh ripping from below. Kagome didn't know how she made it through breakfast but she did. A servant boy came over to them and whispered quietly in Youko's ear. He nodded and stood. "Please excuse me, I have matters to attend to." He kissed her on her forehead and disappeared through the door he came in.  
  
Atto took her gently by her elbow and led her out of the banquet hall. "What does my lady wish to do?" Elzim and Qunei joined them quietly.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"You could embroider, write poetry, we could show you the libraries."  
  
Kagome frowned. "Isn't there anything else to do around here?" Elzim and Qunei smiled at each other before looking mischievously back at her.  
  
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Kagome had the sleeves of her kimono pushed up and the outer kimono hiked above her knees. She was on one knee with one arm resting across it while her other hand shook. She let go of the dice and held her breath as they rolled down the hall. The servants behind her leaned over in anticipation. The diced stopped rolling and settled. There was a pause when everyone read the numbers. 3 and 4. Kagome's team cheered and whooped. They high-fived each other, something they picked up from Kagome.  
  
The male servants hissed their displeasure. Ciwv grabbed the dice and rolled. They're hearts pounded in their chests as they watched. 6 and 5. The boys roared and high-fived. Everyone put another something in to the loot pile. It had gotten high since they began their game of dice, similar to craps. To start you had to get a seven or an 11, from then on you had to get an odd number less than the number rolled previously. It was the boy servants against the girl servants. The players were so good that they started placing bets. Every round they put something valuable like a bangle or a coin into the pile. If no one wins they put more in the pile. The girls and the boys had an on going winning streak and the pile was growing larger and larger. The stakes were mounting higher and higher for no team could bet the other.  
  
Elzim rubbed her hands for luck and took the dice. She rolled the dice and turned with a smirk on her face, not bothering to look at the numbers. 2 and 3. The girls cheered and the boys were beginning to sweat. Phys (Sci) took the dice and grinned. He was the epitome of a bad boy. He had his emerald hair slicked back into a low ponytail and instead of the standard one piercing the boys had, he had three. He winked at the girls before letting it roll. 1 and 4. The boys let out a sigh of relief and put more stuff into the pile as the girls did. Qunei gave Elzim a knowing grin and simply tossed the dice. 2 and 1. The boys were really beginning to sweat now, it poured off they're faces. They groaned when they saw whose turn it was. He took the die with a nervous smile. He shook and dice and let it rolled. Time seemed to slow as the dice turned over and over, farther and father down the hall. 1 and 1. The girls screamed and twirled in joy.  
  
Elzim took her share of the pile. "Sorry boys, maybe you'll win next time."  
  
Phys growled. "I demand a rematch!"  
  
"Some other time perhaps."  
  
"No, now."  
  
"Don't tell me what to do."  
  
"I tell you whatever the hell I feel like."  
  
She snarled. "Oh yeah." She pushed up her sleeves. "Feel like proving it?" Before anyone else knew what was happening she was on floor scrapping with Phys. Ciwv waded in and pulled Phys back while Kyre held Elzim. Elzim's hair was wild, her clothes were askew, there was a bruise beginning to form on her cheek and bruises up and down her arms. "I hope you learned your lesson!"  
  
Phys looked down his nose at her. His clothes was in the same state as her, his hair had be taken out of its tie during the scuffle, his bottom lip was busted and there were claw marks all over his body. "Only thing I learned is that you fight like a girl."  
  
She snarled and lunged for him but Kyre still held her back. Elzim snapped her fangs at him threateningly. "You should know eh?"  
  
Ciwv tightened his grip on the struggling boy. "I think this a good time to get back to work."  
  
Kyre nodded. "See you at lunch." He smiled and towed the boy down the hall.  
  
Elzim crossed her arms and scowled. "You can let go now." Once she was released, she brushed herself off indignantly.  
  
Atto shook her head. "Must you fight?"  
  
She thrust her chin up in the air and crossed her arms. "Yeah, what of it."  
  
Qunei cuffed her. "Youko will notice the scars and you *know* what he did the last time you two fought." The color drained from Elzim's face and she dashed down the hall.  
  
Kagome frowned. "What did make her do?"  
  
"He assigned briar duty for a week with Elzim's right and Phys' left ankles tied together." She cringed at the thought.  
  
"Briar duty?"  
  
"Plants around here grow rapidly, we keep having to prune this or hack that. The biggest problem are the briars, the grow up the walls of the castle and have to be pulled off. Briar duty is a never ending task because they're constantly growing."  
  
Kagome winced. "Oh." She looked around the slowly clearing hallway. "I think I'll just go to my room now." She waved and walked to her door. She sighed and flopped onto her bed. She didn't know what she was doing here.  
  
Of course, she had come for Youko but she barely saw him now. It irritated her. She had left her friends for this? She had left everything she'd known *for this*? It was also uncomfortable to be around things that were totally unfamiliar. Not to mention that everything seemed to remind her of Sesshomaru's castle. Although Sesshomaru's castle was dark and bright at seemingly the same time and Youko's castle was full of intrigue and illusions. For example, whenever she was in the hall there were no sounds or people walking around but she had seen the multitude of servants at breakfast. And they seemed to appear from places you didn't know they were. Like when Kagome and the three servant girls started that game of dice, the hall was empty but then the servants came out of the woodwork. The bookshelves that seem to line every room looked so incongruous that she wanted to pull back a book to see if that would magically reveal a hidden passageway.  
  
Kagome buried her face in her pillow. She also felt a little neglected. She had left Inuyasha because he had shattered her heart, although he probably didn't know he did. And now she was starting to think that she had went with Youko to forget about Inuyasha. Tears started to stream down her face and soaked the pillow. Her sobs racked her body as she finally allowed herself to cry.  
  
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Shippou shoved another cookie into his mouth. He decided to spread them out over a period of time so they would last longer. Who knows when Inuyasha would let Kagome go back to her own time.  
  
Rin leaned forward. "What's that?"  
  
"What's what?"  
  
"That stuff you're eating."  
  
"Food."  
  
"What kind of food?"  
  
"The kind you can eat."  
  
She let out an exasperated breath. "I *know* that! I want to know the name of it."  
  
"It's a cookie."  
  
"Oh." She was quiet for a while. "What does it taste like?"  
  
"It's good. It has little pieces of chocolate in it."  
  
"What's chocolate?"  
  
He rolled his eyes and handed a cookie over. "Here, take this and stop asking questions."  
  
She took it and sniffed at it skeptically. She stuck her tongue out and carefully licked the top. She smiled and shoved the whole thing into her mouth. "It's good!"  
  
Shippou nodded and ate another cookie. "That's what I said." There was a rumbling noise in the distance.  
  
Rin looked frightened. "What's going on?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
Miroku burst out of the hut along with Sango, Kaede, and Kouga. The monk looked around. "Something's wrong."  
  
Kouga rolled his eyes. "Obviously."  
  
Animals burst out of the forest, running frantically through the village. The birds flew over them screeching. Miroku gripped his staff. "I don't know about you but I think we should go that way." He pointed in the direction the animals were coming from.  
  
"Don't even bother, it's coming to us." Kouga said.  
  
There was another thunderous boom then another. Shippou trembled. "It's the trees, they're falling." The trees fell backwards crashing into the ground.  
  
Kouga's nostrils twitched. "Inuyasha."  
  
Inuyasha sprang forward from one tree to the next. The tree he was on fell backward from the force of it. He leaped from the last tree of the forest and onto the roofs of the huts.  
  
Kouga ran next to him on the ground. He looked up at him. "What's going on?"  
  
"Youko took Kagome south. That little pansy's gonna pay"  
  
"South is where is castle is. It's gonna take a while to get there."  
  
"Not if I keep going at this speed." Inuyasha leaped off the last hut and started jumping from rock to rock.  
  
"I'm coming with you."  
  
"I can handle it."  
  
"If you can handle this, how come Youko was able to take Kagome in the first place?"  
  
"Shut up you wimpy wolf."  
  
"I'm coming. Besides I know exactly where Youko's castle is." Kouga ran ahead of him. Inuyasha grunted and followed after him.  
  
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There was an embarrassed cough. "Um, miss?"  
  
Kagome tiled her head slightly from the comfort of the pillow. She looked at the three servants with a red eye. "What do you want?" She snapped weakly.  
  
Atto stepped backwards, Elzim looked as if she knew Kagome's "real self" finally came out, and Qunei frowned. "What's wrong?"  
  
She buried her face in her pillow once more. "Nothing."  
  
"Don't lie."  
  
She rolled onto her back, face still in the pillow. "Why does Youko keep leaving?"  
  
They all looked around as if everything but Kagome was interesting. "Nowhere."  
  
Qunei dragged Kagome out of bed. "Hurry, it almost time for midday and I've got to get you dressed."  
  
"But I'm already dressed!"  
  
"No, that was for breakfast, you need to change for midday." She explained slowly.  
  
"I don't want to change."  
  
Qunei pulled her over to the racks of clothes. "I know you don't. So do you feel red? Or pale yellow?"  
  
Kagome wretched her arm from her hold in exasperation. "I feel like keeping *this* kimono on!"  
  
She fingered through the clothes. "Here's another pale pink outer kimono similar to that. Try it on."  
  
"NO!" She backed up quickly, tripping as her feet toppled over a bunch in the rug that she created. "I just want to be alone."  
  
Elzim stood over her, sneering. "I knew you were just a snobby silly girl. You tricked Youko but you never tricked me."  
  
"Oh would you just shut up?!" Kagome's hair flicked to sliver before going back to its original color. "I am so tired of the shit that comes out of your mouth every time it opens!"  
  
"Do you want to know some other shit, *lady*? Youko has been blowing you off to go thieving? Yeah that right, he rather fetch some trinket than be around filth like you."  
  
Atto gasped, her hand flew to her face. "Elzim!"  
  
"Oh do shut up Atto!"  
  
Qunei snarled. "Don't tell Atto to shut up!"  
  
"Butt out!" Kagome's head was bowed, her bangs covering her eyes. Elzim glared down at her. "Finally realizing the truth now? Your little charms won't work on him, so why don't you just leave?"  
  
Atto stepped forward. "Elzim."  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
She clinched her fists and whispered. "No you shut up."  
  
"What did you just say?"  
  
Atto looked in her the eye but lost her nerve. "Nothing."  
  
Kagome turned her face up to look at Elzim with golden eyes. "Stop pushing Atto around."  
  
"Don't tell me what to do! J-"  
  
She leaped at her. Kagome sat her stomach and pinned her wrists about her head. She grinned wryly. "You're lucky I didn't pull out my sword on you."  
  
Elzim filled her over so she was on top. "Go head, pull it out. I dare you." ( AN: *winces* wow that's cliché) There was a sound of rushing water from outside.  
  
"Don't!" Qunei warned. The rumbling sound started to die down when she turned to look at her  
  
Kagome took advantage of her hesitation to flip up, throwing the girl into a wall. She grabbed her hair and pulled her fist back. "I'm so mad I could really kill you." She dropped her as if she were garbage and stalked out of the room. She got herself hopelessly lost in the winding hallways and fisted her hands in frustration. Her anger got the better of her and she punched the only wall not covered by a bookshelf. The books fell from the many shelves onto the floor. All but one, it was tilted slightly back and slowly the bookshelf it rested on swung back into the wall. Hidden stairway behind in a bookshelf was cliché but who was she to judge?  
  
Kagome poked her head into the wall only to see another hall with bookshelves up and down them. She shouted curses and ripped every book from the shelves but nothing happened. That was when she noticed a hearth, it was weak but she decided to give it a try. She pulled back one of the sconces and waited. The floor opened up underneath her feet and she fell through. She gripped the sides with her right hand before she could completely fall all the way through. She clenched her teeth and looked down, at the bottom of about a fifty foot drop there were sharp steel spikes. She swung herself up and back onto the tiled floors. She panted and rolled over to look at the ceiling.  
  
Kagome studied the painting. It was a family of foxes sleeping, surrounded by jewels and gold. Typical. She looked at it for a while before noticing one of the cubs was smiling in his sleep. After a long inspection she saw something red winking from under his paw. She climbed up a bookcase to get a closer look. It was a large, perfect ruby. She reached out to touch it, it immediately sunk in. The bookcase she was on started to sink into the floor, she scrambled to sit on the top. It brought her to yet another hallway lined with bookshelves she was starting to wonder whether it was taking her to the same place over and over.  
  
It had the same painting of the family of foxes on the ceiling. Extremely irritated, she climbed the bookcase and pressed in the ruby. But this time the book case split in half, lengthwise, and she toppled forward into it. It was lined with rusty iron spikes, she jerked backwards, sprawling on her butt before it snapped shut. She winced, that could have been her in there. Kagome frowned up at the ceiling. Okay, this was definitely not the same hallway. She sat in the spot for a while before getting up. She paced up and down the hall with her hands behind her back and her head down. After a while she started to actually look at the detail in the floor. Rose, vine, thorns, vine, rose, thorns, rose, thorns, vine, vine...wait a minute. The vine was there twice. She kneeled and inspected it, running her fingers along the vine. Slowly the floor parted and she fell, hard, on her butt on the floor of yet another hall.  
  
It went on like this for some time. Kagome grew wary and paranoid of every step or thing out of place. She almost died countless times. Finally after finding a word misspelled on a book cover and finding the same word misspelled on the some sort of picture, she came across a descending spiral staircase. She hesitated before stepping on the stair. No, this was too easy. She instead pushed her legs and arms on the opposite walls and shuffled down this way. Her face turned red from the exertion but she made it to bottom before her limbs gave out. Once she landed she bent over, trying to catch her breath. After she was back to normal she looked around and gasped.  
  
The room was filled with gold.  
  
Lots of gold.  
  
I'm talking 'bout a whole fucking shit load.  
  
Her eyes bugged out as she took all the valuables in. There had to be at least 75 tons of gold in this one room alone, not counting the ones off to the side. Then she noticed something shift to her left. She saw Youko put something on one of the piles. "So you have been going off thieving." She said loudly.  
  
He glanced at her over his shoulder coolly. "You got through the halls, very intelligent of you." He praised. He seemed to like that. "Though you could've died." He added as an off handed after statement.  
  
"Oh really, I didn't notice." She said sarcastically.  
  
Youko turned and walked over to her. "Oh, I know you wouldn't die, I have faith in your abilities. I'm sorry about leaving you so much but I haven't been taking things for a while and the items I had my eye on were ready for the taking."  
  
Kagome looked at the ground. "Why did you bring me here?"  
  
"I want you around."  
  
"No, not that. Why were you so persistent about me leaving with you?"  
  
He looked at her for a while, contemplating on whether he should tell her. "I had a dream. You were in a field with a man and he was trying to take you away. You fought pretty bravely-" He said with an approving grin. "-but he wouldn't let you go. I watched as he took you away, I couldn't move. I didn't want that to happen."  
  
It was silent for a moment, Kagome said without looking out him. "Is this how it's going to be? You leaving to go take something every five minutes?"  
  
He lifted her chin so she was looking in his now guarded eyes. "What do you want me do? Give up stealing?"  
  
"No, never, I just want to see more of you. Which is why I came to a conclusion."  
  
He raised an eyebrow. "Which is...?"  
  
"I want to go with you."  
  
"No I can't take you with me, it's too dangerous."  
  
"I don't care. Didn't I prove I can handle myself by coming out of those halls in one piece? I'm not stupid enough to fall for a trap and I'm strong enough to take care of myself."  
  
Youko grinned, pleased. "That's just the answer I wanted to hear. I'll take you."  
  
She blinked. "What, just like that?"  
  
"Yeah, why not? What you said makes perfect sense. Usually I prefer to go alone but for you I'll make an exception." He winked.  
  
Kagome grinned. "I'm glad."  
  
"Good." He released her chin and picked her up. "Because there is something else I've had my eye on. The Lover's Tear."  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"It's a ten carat flawless sapphire set in a pure gold disk surrounded by diamonds. It's priceless, I want it. It's heavily guarded with spells and men. It will be a challenge, think you're up to it?"  
  
She scoffed. "I think I would've known it would be challenging *before* I asked you to take me."  
  
He chuckled lightly and carried her to a secret door. "Just what I wanted to hear."  
  
"Why is it called the Lover's Tear?" She asked while he walked.  
  
"It is said that it was owned by a jewelry maker's mistress. He wanted to marry her but he was already married to another."  
  
"Why did he just divorce her?"  
  
He frowned down at her. "Dee-vor-se? What is that?"  
  
"When two married people decide that they don't want to be married any more. They go get a divorce and they're no longer married."  
  
"Hm, interesting. Where do they practice this divorce?" He pronounced the word perfectly this time.  
  
"Where I come from."  
  
"And where is that?"  
  
"Tokyo."  
  
"To-kee-o. I never heard or read about that place. Where is that?"  
  
"Japan." She hoped that after a few more vague answers he would stop asking her. She knew he would sense that she lied but she didn't want to tell him the whole truth yet.  
  
"There's something you're not telling me. I know every place in Japan and I've never heard of Tokyo."  
  
"You probably wouldn't have.."  
  
"Don't tell me if you want to."  
  
"No it's okay-"  
  
"I have no right to push you, you know nothing of me."  
  
She was silent for a while. "Tell me something about you."  
  
"Well, I'm a fox demon and I steal."  
  
She rolled her eyes and smacked his arm lightly. "Okay, I get the message. But tell me at least what exactly are those servants of yours."  
  
"They're water demons."  
  
"I've never heard of a water demon."  
  
"They're numbers had been dwindling, there were more dying than born. Then a toad demon took over and made them slaves. I saw the castle when I was passing through and decided I wanted it. So I killed the toad and took the castle. The water demons stayed around so I hired them. I needed someone to take care of the grounds while I take my leave."  
  
"They don't seem like servants, they're more like.."  
  
"Family?" She nodded. "I have come to respect them and their ways. They do as they please as long as the work gets done."  
  
"I only notice children around, why aren't there any adults working?"  
  
"The usually get mated to another servant and leave to start their own family."  
  
"Why do some wear gold while others wear silver? Why do they where bells or coins, or other things?"  
  
"The older servants wear gold as a sign of seniority and responsibility. The bells and such are a sign for which clan they belong to. The bells that Kyre wears are the sign for the Wave Breaker clan."  
  
"They don't look like they would be water demons."  
  
He raised an eyebrow. "Ever see a silver haired fox with yellow eyes?"  
  
"Okay, you've got a point." He set her down and pushed open a door. "What's this?"  
  
"Look and see."  
  
Kagome walked in. The room was small but it was full of swords, bows, arrows, throwing knives, and black clothes. "Wow."  
  
Youko leaned against the door frame. "I don't normally use those types of weapons but I keep them around. Pick some clothes and weapons. I suggest a bow and some arrows, yours are over there. I had them brought here. Take some daggers just in case." Kagome pulled on a tight fitting but comfortable black suit similar to Sango's. She hefted the quiver full of arrows and the bow over her shoulder. He pulled out a map. "We want to go through here where there will be fewer guards. The spells there are difficult to dismantle but nothing I can't handle. There's a secret vault through a false backing in an amour in one of the bedrooms. There's yet another spell on that and the contents inside. Still think you want to go?"  
  
"Yes!" She said exasperatedly.  
  
He smiled slightly. "Just making sure." He lifted her up again and jumped out the window, landing safely on the ground. After a quick glance at her, he sifted the ground under his feet. Kagome clamped a hand over her mouth and willed away the urge to vomit. Slowly she took her hand away and looked around.  
  
Youko looked down at her. "I know that you're getting annoyed with me asking if you wanted to come. I don't want you thinking that you have to prove yourself. I admire all the bravery you've shown, turn back now while you have a chance. I will think nothing less of you, one can only be so brave without bordering idiocy."  
  
Her eyes flashed gold for a moment. "WHAT?! Excuse me mister but I would think if I had wanted to back down I would have done it already! I am NOT an idiot!"  
  
He chuckled lightly but his eyes were darkened with worry. "I love your courage, I just don't want anything to happen to you okay."  
  
"I can take care of myself, but if I can't I trust you'll be there for me." She raised an eyebrow in question, waiting for him to confirm it.  
  
"I promise, thought I don't know if a thief's word means anything."  
  
"It's good enough for me, now let's go. We've been standing her long enough."  
  
"Right." He started to walk forward.  
  
She grabbed his arm and swung him around to hug him tightly. Youko put his arms around her and allowed her to cling to him. She needed to be close to him right now. She had a bad feeling about this but she had already assured him she'd do it. Kagome let go quickly. "Alright let's go."  
  
He nodded and walked forward silently. They were met with some guards but they were so pitiful that Youko killed them all with a slash of one vine. They climbed into a window and landed on the floor quietly. He led Kagome into a lavishly furnished room and stopped. "I need you keep watch at the door."  
  
"What do I do when I see someone coming?"  
  
"Kill them." He stated simply before going inside and going to work. Kagome sighed, but stood alert. At least she was getting to spend time with him. And this was exciting, though very wrong. Youko had actually made her life even more interesting that before. But in a different way that was refreshing. She smiled slightly, Youko was a bad influence.  
  
Her smile soon vanished when someone covered her mouth and started pulling her down the hall. "Be quiet." He ordered but that only made her thrash more. He lifted her up, still covering her mouth, and jumped out a low window. Once outside, he turned her to face him, taking his hand from her mouth. "Happy to see me?"  
  
"Bastard!" She spat in his face.  
  
His face went red with rage as he wiped his face. He took some calming breaths before speaking. "You're coming with me whether you like it or not. And I'm gonna break you of your disrespect."  
  
"Try to take me anywhere and Youko will kill you."  
  
"Funny I don't see him anywhere." It was that precise moment that large thorny vines wrapped around his neck and pulled him off the ground.  
  
Youko wrapped an arm around Kagome and stared up at him coolly. "Mind telling me what you were doing with her, Hiten?"  
  
Flamez- Dun, dun, dun. So was it unexpected? Or did you know who it was from the beginning? I know some of you did, ya'll are pretty sharp. Review if you don't want me to hold the next chapter hostage. 


	10. Promises

Chapter 10-Promises  
  
Blood seeped from the wounds in Hiten's neck as he powered up. "She's mine, fox." Lightning crackled down the vines, burning them to ashes. He dropped to his feet.  
  
Kagome gasped indignantly. "No I'm not!"  
  
He smirked. "I believe you said if I stopped attacking Inuyasha then you'd do whatever I want. And I want you to come with me."  
  
"But you didn't stop!" She hissed through clenched teeth  
  
"Oh yes I did, I stopped attacking him when you charged at me. It doesn't matter the circumstances, a deal is a deal." He walked over to her.  
  
Youko pushed her behind him. The air around him crackled with black energy in warning. "I don't care what deal you thought you made, she stays with me."  
  
"Don't even pretend that you care about her fox. Admit it, the only reason you want her around is because she can sense jewel shards."  
  
"I'd expect filth like that to come out of your mouth."  
  
"Hand her over before I'll be forced to crush you."  
  
Youko's eyes narrowed, he spread his feet out. Large black vines sprouted from the ground and wrapped around Hiten. The thorns pierced his flesh, ripping it from his bones. Hiten powered up, the clouds turned gray and started to crackle with lightning. Lightning struck the ground close to Youko's feet. The fox jumped backwards, getting out of range. The lightning struck the vines, freeing Hiten.  
  
He walked toward Kagome. He grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. "Come on."  
  
Youko dodged another lightning bolt. "Get away from her!" The ground rumbled and shifted. It rose up and toppled onto him burying Hiten alive.  
  
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"Almost there." Kouga panted.  
  
Inuyasha sped up. "There it is." The wolf skidded to a stop in front of the hanyou. "Why are you stopping?"  
  
"Kagome's not here, I can sense it. She's little to the-"  
  
"East." Inuyasha sprang forward with Kouga close behind.  
  
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Kagome brushed the dirt off her shakily. "Some people just refuse to die."  
  
"You don't have to worry about him anymore." Youko tilted his head to the side, cracking his neck.  
  
The ground began to shake again. Hiten burst out of dirt, glowing with power. He held out his hand, lightning traveled down his arm and struck Youko. He flew backwards and skidded a few yards before hitting a boulder. Lightning struck him down every time he tried to stand. Kagome tried to swallow down her vomit. She would never to use to the stench of burning flesh.  
  
She strung her bow and loosened. It pierced Hiten's right palm. He growled and turned narrowed eyes to her. Lightning traveled down his arm and toward her.  
  
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Kouga pointed. "There she is!"  
  
Inuyasha growled. "With that bastard Hiten!" He ran towards them but he smacked into something. He groaned and backed up. "What the hell?" He reached out only to come in contact with something solid.  
  
"It's a barrier." Kikyou said from up in a branch.  
  
He glared up at her. "Let us out!"  
  
"I don't think so. Kagome is going to die like she should and I don't want you getting in the way."  
  
"Why should Kagome's being alive matter to you? Just let me go damnit!"  
  
"No."  
  
Kouga kicked a tree making it topple over. "Take off this fucking barrier!"  
  
She looked down at him impassively. "Don't tell me what to do, demon."  
  
Inuyasha gritted his teeth. "Just take it down, Kikyou."  
  
"She has clouded your judgment, and she's always in the way. She even made you forget your promise."  
  
"I didn't forget Kikyou. When the time comes, I will go to Hell with you but this ain't the time so let me out."  
  
"I don't believe you, once she's gone there will be no doubt your life will be mine."  
  
Kouga crossed his arms. "You're just jealous that he wants to save her. Get over it, you're just a walking corpse."  
  
Inuyasha glare at him. "Shut up wolf."  
  
Kikyou's lips turned up slightly. "Jealously is a trivial matter that is beneath me. I just want to watch her die for the satisfaction it will give me. And it seems as though I don't have to wait long to get my wish."  
  
Inuyasha and Kouga turned and watched in horror while a lightning bolt headed straight toward Kagome.  
  
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Kagome's legs didn't want to move as she watched the bolt come closer and closer. She didn't know what was wrong with her. It only made sense to get the hell out the way but she couldn't. Youko gritted his teeth and sprang up despite the lightning frying him. He leaped at her, pushing her out of the way.  
  
Kagome groaned from her place on the ground and stood up. "Thank you Youko." She looked around. "Youko?" He groaned and sat up, revealing a fist sized hole in his stomach. Red blood spilled from the wound and onto the ground at an alarming rate. She cried out and ran to him.  
  
Hiten struck the ground between them with his lightning, creating a large crater. "Leave him to die."  
  
Kagome roared in rage and transformed into a half demon and then to a whole demon. She leaped over to the other side of the crater. She bent over Youko. "Youko?" She asked.  
  
"I'm fine."  
  
She nodded and pulled out two knives she had stuck in her suit. They glowed a light purple before she threw them at him. They pierced his forearm, the lightning faltered. Kagome wanted to kill him. She wanted his blood on her hands. She wanted to rip his flesh from his bones. But there was a voice in the back of her head that told her something was more important. She dropped to her knees and looked down at Youko.  
  
"It's just a stomach wound. You'll live."  
  
He looked up at her through pain filled eyes. "A stomach wound that has caused me to lose a lot of blood, not to mean all the burns I have acquired." He chuckled lightly. "I guess I can't keep my promise. It doesn't look like I'll be there for you after all."  
  
"You gave me your word." She said with a hint of anger.  
  
"But what is the word of a thief?" She could start to see the blood tinting the inside of his mouth. "I'll still protect you Kagome, I'll be back for you." He transformed into a silver fox and slowly disappeared.  
  
Kagome looked up at Hiten. She was so mad she was shaking. He had killed Youko. Nothing was holding her back from reducing him to shreds. She drew out her sword and leaped for him. He powered up, the force of it sent her crashing back to the ground.  
  
Hiten sneered down at her. "I'm getting tired of this." Lightning descended from the clouds and coiled around her wrists and ankles. It burned where it touched her skin. The lightning bound her ankles and wrists together. She still struggled, worming across the ground, using her fangs drag herself to him. Her hair grew out and attempted to slice the rings of lightning but the rings burned her silver tresses. "Give it up, you lost."  
  
She growled, her hair wrapped around the hilt of Aisaiga and swung it at him. It slashed his cheek, leaving a deep cut. Her hair wrapped around his limbs as the sword hacked at him. Hiten send lightning down her silver tresses, burning her. The stench of burnt flesh was magnified because it was her own. But she held on, her fury demanded more blood. She wouldn't stop until her eyes rolled back into her head and she fell forward.  
  
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Kurama stopped walking abruptly. Hiei glanced at him. "What is it?"  
  
He looked to his left. "I don't know, I-" He fell to knees and clutched his stomach in agony. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from crying out.  
  
Hiei drew his sword and looked around. Yuske raised his fists and took a fighting stance. "What's happening?"  
  
Kurama panted. "I think Youko's trying to tell me something."  
  
Hiei raised an eyebrow. "Couldn't he have taken a less aggressive approach?"  
  
He smiled weakly. "He had been trying to tell me something all day but I wouldn't listen."  
  
Kuwabara crossed his arms. "What he say?"  
  
"I have to go to the well."  
  
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Inuyasha and Kouga watched helplessly as Hiten picked Kagome up and left on a stormy cloud. The wolf punched the ground in frustration, leaving a large crater. "Are you fucking happy now?"  
  
Kikyou's eyebrows turned up slightly in what Kouga thought was her version of a frown. "I would have rather him kill her. But I suppose with him she's as good as dead." She vanished.  
  
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Kurama looked up the stairs. "This is the place."  
  
Kuwabara eyed it skeptically. "Looks like a simple shrine to me."  
  
Hiei glanced at him. "I don't think you have the right to call anything simple."  
  
"Shut up, half pint!"  
  
Kurama looked over his shoulder at them. "I think I should go on my own."  
  
Yuske frowned. "Are you sure?"  
  
Hiei rolled his eyes. "He wouldn't have said it if he wasn't."  
  
Kurama smiled slightly. "I'll be fine." He started to walk up the stairs.  
  
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Kagome groaned and shifted. She winced, it hurt to move. She summoned some saliva and spit on the ground, desperately trying to clean the dirt and blood from her mouth. She looked at her wrists and ankles, no rings of lightning but there were deep puffy red circles of where they had been. She took inventory of all her injuries. She had a large bruise on her left hip, several smaller bruises sprinkle across her skin, there were several small burns all over her, and her hair was caked with dried blood and was slightly seared.  
  
She laid there, looking up at the sky, unable to move because of the pain. After a while she grew irritated with herself and struggled to stand. It took a few attempts but she finally managed to take a few awkward steps around. She was in the middle of a forest but that really didn't tell her where she was. She limbed a little farther when she saw a rabbit. She smiled slightly, she loved animals. It hopped over to her cautiously. Kagome cover her mouth in horror, when it struck something invisible and was fried to dead. She turned and vomited until there was nothing left in her stomach.  
  
"I see you discovered barrier I made. Couldn't have you running off."  
  
"Sick bastard." She spat.  
  
Hiten looked her over with disgust. "You look and smell like shit, go wash in the lake." Kagome stayed were she was, glaring at him. He stomped over to her and grabbed her arm.  
  
"Don't touch me!" She kicked and wriggled.  
  
His hand crackled with lightning for a second, burning her. "Shut up." He lifted her up and threw her into the lake. Kagome emerged from the water, sputtering and shaking. She tried to wade back to shore. Hiten wagged a finger at her. "You don't get to leave until you're clean."  
  
"Fuck you." She took another step, she was now shin deep in water.  
  
He held out a hand, lightning spread from his fingers and surrounded the lake. "You don't leave until you're clean." He repeated and left.  
  
Kagome wanted to scream. She took some calming breathes and stopped to think. There had to be a way to escape, she looked up but she was completely boxed in. She shouted curses in frustration and splashed the water angrily. She looked up at the sky. "What did I do to deserve this?! I never asked for any of this! You came to me and said things that I'll never be able to understand! You fucking ruined my life, do you know that?! You fucked up my life!"  
  
She gasped and fell to her knees. Her hair changed back and forth between silver and black. There was a sharp stabbing pain in the base of her skull. Her right forearm was burning. She looked down at the appendage, her sight blurred with pain. The Symbols were shifting, slow at first but then so fast they were nothing but blurred images. Kagome clenched her teeth and shut her eyes against the pain. Then everything stopped abruptly. She opened her eyes and stood. Did that really just happen? She looked down at the Symbols on her arm but they were all in the same order. She glanced around sharply, did she really just imagine that? Was she going crazy on top of everything else? She held her head and groaned, she had a headache now. Maybe it did happen. She looked up at the sky.  
  
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'Are you sure this is the place?' Kurama asked.  
  
'I positive, I can sense her. The well is were I need to go.' Youko replied.  
  
Kurama looked around skeptically, but jumped down into the well. He frowned and looked around. He climbed out and looked around in mild shock. Now he was in the middle of a forest.  
  
'I told you.'  
  
'Where am I?'  
  
'500 years in the past.'  
  
'How did you know about this well?'  
  
'I didn't. I just sensed that Kagome was near and then I remembered this well that she had climbed out of once. Hm, so she came from the future. I also thought there was something different about her.'  
  
'Who is Kagome?'  
  
'She is a girl I once knew. I had thought I was going to die but then I was transported into you. I have developed a theory.'  
  
'What?'  
  
'I believe that I had an actual near death experience at this exact time, before Kagome had came into the past. Then I think Fate was trying to right itself by reenacting my predicament. I found myself in you and I slowly began to remember who you were.'  
  
'I see.' Kurama turned and looked around. 'Where to?'  
  
'East.'  
  
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Kagome had refused to wash, but all of her angry splashing had ultimately washed all the grime off of her. She was soaking wet, pruny, freezing, and highly agitated. The fact that Hiten swaggered over to her with a smirk only added to her agitation. She rose up out of the water and sloshed over to him. He grabbed her arm in same place he had burned her earlier. It hurt but she didn't want him to know. He threw her down onto a straw mat on the ground.  
  
Kagome shivered as she noticed an eerie shift in the wind. She wrapped her arms around her legs in effort to keep warm. He looked down at her. "You are pitiful."  
  
"Fuck off." Her teeth chattered.  
  
"With me you could be powerful, think of the possibilities. My strength and your ability to sense jewel shards will make us unbeatable."  
  
"Is that the reason you brought me here?" She asked quietly.  
  
"Yes, whe-"  
  
Her hair turned silver and she lunged at him. Kagome slashed her long red claws at him, gathering his skin under them. "You killed him for that?!" She pinned him to the ground by sitting on his stomach and pummeled him in the face. "You fucking killed him for that?!"  
  
Hiten flipped her over and pinned her wrists above her head. "If you had just came with me that would never had happened." She stopped struggling. He stood and dropped his outer kimono over her shoulders. Kagome pulled it around her absent mindedly as he walked off. 'IF YOU MAKE A MISTAKE, BAD THINGS WILL BEFALL THE ONES YOU CARE ABOUT.' Was it her fault he died?  
  
Kagome looked up at the sky, tears streaming down her face. "Is this what you meant? Did he die because of me?"  
  
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Kagome didn't know how long she sat there thinking about her encounter with Vaniliy. The whole situation was confusing her. What exactly did he mean? Everything he said made no sense. Was he even *trying* to help her? Or did he put some sort of curse on her? Her head was spinning with possibilities and the only thing that stopped her train of thought her grumbling stomach.  
  
"Hungry?"  
  
She glared up at Hiten. "No."  
  
He rolled his eyes and handed a bowl of noodles. "I can smell when you lie."  
  
She looked at the bowl but against her good judgment, she took it. Kagome tipped the bowl to her lips and slurped the noodles down hungrily. To her surprise it was actually good, but then again she hadn't eaten in about a day. She wiped her mouth and shoved the bowl back to him. The shift in the wind made her shiver and pull Hiten's outer kimono tighter around her.  
  
Hiten started a fire by shooting some lightning at some twigs and fallen branches. Kagome watched him. "What will get you to let me go?"  
  
He smirked at her, something she had grown used to. "Nothing."  
  
"Nothing?" She repeated.  
  
"Nope, see we can do this the hard way or the easy way. You can agree to say with me and you can have whatever you want. Or I can force you to stay with me and you can stay in the middle of the forest."  
  
"Why can't I just leave?"  
  
Hiten rolled his eyes. "Because you can sense jewel shards, besides you're good with a sword and bow." He winked.  
  
Kagome normally would have smiled at the complement but she didn't smile at murders. "I won't agree to anything."  
  
"You will eventually."  
  
"Like hell I will." Kagome crossed her arms and turned away from him.  
  
"You'll come around." He stood and walked away.  
  
Kagome climbed up a tree to get a good look around. There were trees for miles and miles all around her. She groaned and sat back on a branch, resting her back on the trunk. Would she ever get away from this man?  
  
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Sesshomaru stood on the edge of the cliff and looked around. He had had time to think. It was irrational of him to act that way. In due time he would get to his business. In due time.  
  
"Master Sesshomaru? Sire?" Jaken asked hesitantly.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I had been looking for you, master."  
  
"Why?" He asked with irritation, wishing he would get to the point.  
  
"Actually, I'm not quite sure. I had this dream last night telling me that I had to find you. I thought you might have been in sort of danger."  
  
Sesshomaru raised in eyebrow. "*If* I could possibly be in danger, what makes you think you would be of any help to me?"  
  
"Well, I don't know, sire. I just felt compelled to com-" Jaken stopped abruptly. His eyes went blank before emitting a white light. "HE CAME BECAUSE I TOLD HIM TO."  
  
He frowned. "And who might you be?"  
  
"I AM VANILIY, I'M SURE YOU'VE HEARD OF ME."  
  
"Really? I'm supposed to believe that?"  
  
"YOU SHOULD, CONSIDERING HOW MANY TIMES YOU'VE ASKED FOR MY WISDOM CONCERNING KAGOME. I KNOW ABOUT ALL THE QUESTIONS YOU ASKED THE BOOK OF TRUTH. BUT THERE IS LITTLE TIME TO EXPLAIN. KAGOME IS DANGER, YOU MUST GO TO HER."  
  
"Why would I want to do that?" He asked stubbornly.  
  
"DON'T YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY YOU COULDN'T SENSE WHERE SHE WAS? THERE IS SOMEONE TRYING TO KEEP YOU AWAY FROM HER."  
  
"Who?" He stopped to think. "That makes no sense, I couldn't find Rin or that wolf."  
  
"BECAUSE THEY WHERE WITH HER, THEY DIDN'T WANT YOU TO FIND KAGOME."  
  
"Who?" Sesshomaru asked again. "Why?"  
  
"YOU MUST GO TO KAGOME. YOU MUST GO EAST." The light from Jaken's eyes dimmed and he fell forward.  
  
Sesshomaru looked over the edge of the cliff. If this was so important why didn't Vaniliy just tell him directly in his sleep? Was that even Vaniliy?  
  
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Kagome's nosed twitched. Something was not right, something was very very wrong. She gripped the branch and hung before she let go to land. Before she knew what happened a searing white pain shot through her body. Lightheaded with agony, she looked up at her hands. They were pinned to the tree by arrows with blood sluggishly dripping from them. She gritted her teeth to keep from passing out and looked forward.  
  
A figure originally cloaked in the darkness emerged. Kikyou looked at her coldly and put an arrow on her bow. "You always were weak."  
  
"Kikyou?" She gasped.  
  
"Aren't you the smart one? I just can't figure out why Inuyasha even bothers with you." She loosed, an arrow pinned Kagome's left leg to the tree. She bit the inside her to cheek harder to keep from crying out. She refused to give Kikyou any satisfaction. "I'm tired of you getting in the way. He doesn't love you so why don't you just leave him be." Another arrow pinned Kagome's right leg to the tree.  
  
"Why do you care?" Her question was a breathless whisper.  
  
Kikyou walked toward her slowly. "Why do I care? Do think I was always like this? Some shell of human? Do you think that Naraku has not ruined my life as well?"  
  
"What does this have to with me?" The pain from her wounds was making it hard to stay conscious.  
  
"My soul was restless in death, my business was unfinished. Then that hag brought me back to life and I got my chance for revenge. But you always got in my way." She stopped three feet in front of her.  
  
"Shouldn't you be mad at Naraku?" Her head hung forward. Every word was now an effort and was draining the last of her energy.  
  
"I'm not concerned with him. All I want is Inuyasha dead. But right now I'll settle for just you." She raised her strung bow, arrow aimed for her head.  
  
"LOOK WHAT WE HAVE HERE." Hiten stood a few feet from them with a ball of crackling lightning in his hand. "TWO PEOPLE I WANT TO KILL IN ONE PLACE. THANKS FOR THE CONVENIENCE."  
  
Kikyou swung around, pointing her arrow at him. "Who are you?" Kagome looked up. Hiten's eyes were different. They were blazing white but this a harsher white than when Vaniliy possessed Inuyasha. And the voice was not a powerful like his either but just intolerably loud. Every syllable boomed, making the ground shudder beneath their feet. The added stress of the voice on top of her rapid loss of blood made her pass out. Kagome hung limply from the arrows that held her in place.  
  
"THAT DOES NOT MATTER." He raised his hand and released the lightning ball. It immediately expanded and flew towards her.  
  
A barrier went up around Kikyou and met the lightning in a flash of light. "LEAVE THIS REALM."  
  
He raised an eyebrow. "UNLIKE YOU, PUNIJIA, I HAVE A RIGHT TO BE HERE."  
  
"I KNOW OF YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES, YOU NEED NOT REMIND ME. I, TOO, HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO BE HERE."  
  
"THESE TWO WOMEN MUST DIE. THEY DO NOT BELONG HERE, THE BALANCE NEEDS TO BE RESTORED."  
  
"IT WILL BE WHEN YOU LET THE EVENTS RUN THEIR COURSE."  
  
"HOW VERY ARROGANT OF YOU. YOU THINK YOU CHANGE THINGS ON A WHIM? YOU HAVE DECIDED WHAT WAS TO HAPPEN, AND IT FAILED. YOU CANNOT MEDDLE IN THIS REALM TO GET YOUR DESIRED OUTCOME."  
  
"ME ARRROGANT? YOU CAN'T EVEN SEE YOUR OWN FOOLERY. IF YOU KILL THEM IT WILL ONLY LEAD TO THE VERY THING YOU'RE TRYING TO PREVENT. THE VERY THING I'M TRYING TO PREVENT."  
  
"WE ARE NOT ON THE SAME SIDE, SO DON'T TRY TO MAKE IT SOUND LIKE WE ARE. THIS IS NOT YOUR AFFAIR. THIS IS NOT HOW THINGS ARE SUPPOSE TO GO, I HAVE TO RIGHT THEM."  
  
"NOT EVERYTHING IS WRITTEN IN THE STARS."  
  
"INFINITY IS WRITTEN IN THE STARS. WHAT HAS HAPPENED, WHAT WILL HAPPEN, AND WHAT IS HAPPENING IS ALL THERE."  
  
"PERHAPS YOU READ IT WRONG, FOR WHAT IT SAID WAS GOING TO HAPPEN IS NOT HAPPEING THAT WAY. OR DID I JUST READ THE STARS WRONG?" She added with a hint of sarcasm.  
  
"IF YOU KEPT OUT OF THIS THEN IT WOULD BE HAPPENING."  
  
"YOU CAN'T CHANGE THINGS AROUND TO FIT SOME STUPID PROFOCIEY."  
  
"THIS IS YOUR DOING, YOU PRACTICALLY SIGNED THEIR DEATH WARRANT."  
  
"TOUCH THEM AND I SWEAR I'LL RIP YOUR HEAD OFF."  
  
"VOLIENCE IS NOT THE ANSWER. JUST LEAVE NOW AND WE WILL NOT HAVE TO HARM YOU AND YOURS."  
  
"YOUR TIME IS RUNNING OUT AND YOU KNOW IT."  
  
The light from Hiten's eyes started to dim, he cursed. "WE'LL HAVE TO CONTINUE THIS LATER." He fell forward into the dirt.  
  
She smiled bitterly. "TOO BAD IT HAD TO BE THIS WAY BETWEEN US." She crouched beside Kagome and touched her forehead. Her wounds healed instantly. "HE WAS PARTLY RIGHT, SOME OF THIS IS MY FAULT. I JUST PRAY THAT YOU ARE STRONG ENOUGH TO FIX MY MISTAKE." The light from her eyes faded and she fell forward next to Kagome.  
  
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Vaniliy smiled at her crookedly. "So you ran into him again?"  
  
Punjia frowned slightly. "Yes, I was surprised he would pull something like this."  
  
"He was doing his job."  
  
"No, this goes beyond his job. This was personal."  
  
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Kagome woke perfectly fine, something that had not happened in a while. She looked down at her hands, they where healed. Even the burns around her wrists and ankles were gone. Maybe it was all a dream. She turned and came face to face to Kikyou. She clamped her hands over to mouth to keep in her scream. So it did happen.  
  
Kagome sat up and looked down at the miko. She thought she couldn't hate anyone, besides Naraku, but she did hate Kikyou. Was that wrong? It wasn't her fault that Naraku tricked her but still, she had tried to kill her so how innocent could she be? In a moment of wickedness, an evil smile played across her lips as she took an arrow from the ground next to her. "Die bitch." She aimed the arrow for her heart and chopped downward.  
  
Kikyou's eyes opened in surprise, instantly she vanished before the arrow could even pierce her skin. Kagome's arrow drove into the dirt. She blinked slowly, thinking about what just happened. She actually had tried to kill Kikyou. She backed up from the arrow in horror, what was wrong with her? What was she becoming?  
  
"Well, done. But your take off was slightly sluggish."  
  
Kagome glared at Hiten. "Fuck off."  
  
"You could be very powerful, you know."  
  
"I don't care."  
  
"You'll agree to it sooner or later." Hiten stood and stretched. He looked around before setting his eyes on her. "What happened last night?"  
  
"How should I know?" Kagome asked, irritated.  
  
"You seemed to know that girl that was here."  
  
"Oh her." She said, her anger welled up again. Quickly she quelled it. She realized if Kikyou was still here she would probably attack her again.  
  
"Why did you try to kill her?"  
  
"That's none of your fucking business."  
  
"There's nothing wrong with wanting to kill someone." He told her, his eyes glittering brutally.  
  
She frowned. "Yes there is."  
  
"No, if you're stronger you have to right to survive and the weaker doesn't. You can't tell me that you wouldn't be happy to see her blood on your hands, to smell her fear, to feel her life fading away. Look me in the eye and tell me you wouldn't."  
  
"I hate you." Kagome hissed. She hated him because he was right. It was wrong, but she knew he was right. She curled up in a ball, thoroughly disgusted with herself.  
  
"You hate her, too, don't you? That's why you attacked her, isn't it?"  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"You almost killed her you know. If she had stayed around for a little longer that arrow would ha-"  
  
"I said shut up!" She pulled a knife out of her still soggy boot and threw it at him. It pierced his shoulder.  
  
Hiten picked her up by her neck. "I've been too patient with you. Tomorrow we *will* be going shard hunting and you *will* cooperate, or I'll kill you."  
  
She glared down at him. "Then kill me."  
  
To her surprise he threw his head back and laughed. "I like your attitude." He dropped her unceremoniously on the ground.  
  
Kagome rubbed her neck. "Well, I don't like yours." She spat lamely.  
  
Hiten rolled his eyes. "Get to like it because your going to be stuck with me for a *long* time."  
  
She growled. "What makes you think that?!" She was sick of him. She was sick of being stuck with him, sick of his arrogance, sick of seeing his smirking face. Kagome realized that she could possibly hate him just like she hated Naraku and Kikyou. She hated him because he killed Youko, she supposed it was it a different kind of hate than what she felt for them. Were there different types of hatred? Since when was it so easy to hate someone anyway?  
  
Kagome, her emotions pent up, launched herself at him. Hiten, surprised, toppled backwards from her weight. She picked up a large rock next to him and bashed him in the head with it. "I'm gonna kill you!" Her face was red with fury and madness. Again and again the rock struck his skull. She wouldn't stop until his brains were spilling onto the dirt. "I'm gonna kill you just like you killed Youko!"  
  
No longer shocked, Hiten powered up, electrocuting her. The volts surged through her body, but she didn't feel it from all the adrenalin. "Die!" When he saw that she was somehow enduring his lightning, he powered up more, sending her flying into a tree. Kagome went straight through the tree, smacking into the barrier. She fell forward, the back of her suit burned to ashes. She was on all fours, panting, shaking and sweating. What was she doing? What was wrong with her?  
  
Hiten stood beside her. "I know why you're pissed, I felt the same about Monten. I'll relish the day that I get my fingers around that mutt's neck." He growled, crackling with energy. "But Youko's death doesn't concern me in the least, so you better stop attacking me or I will snap you in half."  
  
Slowly she turned her face up to look up him. "You cared about your brother a lot didn't you?"  
  
"He might not have been the brightest but he will always be my brother."  
  
"And Youko might not have been the most moral person but I will always care for him. You took him from me and *I* will relish the day I get *my* fingers around *your* neck." She said coldly. Kagome sat back on her rear and glared icily up at him.  
  
"Good, with everyone going after you, you'll need a reason to live. And revenge the perfect incentive."  
  
Her lips peeled back from her teeth in a sneer. "If I don't kill you, someone will come for me and end your pathetic excuse for a life."  
  
Hiten picked her up by her arms. "I am invincible, let them come."  
  
"Put her down!"  
  
Kagome turned to look behind her. "Inuyasha!" Damn, that was impeccable timing.  
  
"Why don't you make me?" Hiten snarled.  
  
He pulled out Tetsusaiga. "Gladly."  
  
"Inuyasha, don't!" But she was too late. He walked straight into the barrier and was instantly electrocuted.  
  
Inuyasha stepped back and growled. "Why don't you be a man and come face me!"  
  
"I'm busy, mutt."  
  
"Well make some time." Came a voice from behind him.  
  
When Hiten turned to see who the speaker was, he was met with a fist in his nose. He went flying backwards. Kouga ran next to him and pried Kagome from his grip. "I'll be taking her."  
  
Kagome threw her arms around his neck in relief. "Thank you!"  
  
"Hey, I distracted him while he dug under!" Inuyasha said indignantly.  
  
"Thank you too Inuyasha." She added.  
  
Kouga looked her over. "Are you okay?"  
  
She nodded and stepped back. "So you dug under the barrier, huh?" He nodded. "Now why didn't I think of that?"  
  
He picked her up and carried to the hole he dug. "Can we discuss this while getting out of here?"  
  
The wind kicked up. "Don't leave so soon." Kagura said from a large white feather hovering in the sky.  
  
Kouga snarled. "What do you want bitch?"  
  
"Just a conference, Naraku wants to make a deal."  
  
"Fuck off!"  
  
"He went through a lot of trouble for this and he won't take no for an answer."  
  
Kagome frowned. "Trouble?"  
  
She smiled. "Yes, he had been busy but he wanted to make sure you got here and remained here."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Did you really think Hiten could survive those attacks on his own? You really are stupid." She waved her fav upwards twice. Hiten rose from the ground until he was floating a few feet below her. With another flick of her fan, a cut in his stomach foamed and sprayed black blood down on them. "He was dead the whole time. I must say, he was my best work yet."  
  
"What impossible, I would have smelled it." Kouga protested.  
  
Kagura tapped her fan against her temple. "Didn't you feel the shift in the wind whenever you got close. The wind was masking his scent. But enough explaining, Naraku will be here soon."  
  
As if on cue, Naraku appeared next to her on her feather. The feather floated downward until they were about 10 feet from the ground. He held Kikyou in front of him with a knife pressed against her throat. "I'm going to make this simple. You can give me Kagome or Kikyou dies. You have a day to decide." The feather rose up until it was out of sight.  
  
Flamez- OoOoOoOo! Lot of stuff happened in this chapter. Kinda made the story even more confusing ., but everything will be explained in due time. As for the Yu-yu action in this chapter, there won't be anymore. I didn't really want this story to be too crossovery. That was just put there to tell how Kurama got through the well and why and stuff. Review or, well you know. 


	11. Choices, choices pt1the reunion

Disclaimer: I don't own it. If I did, everyone would have kawaii ears like Inuyasha.  
  
Flamez: I had originally wrote this as one chapter but it was way too long so I split it up cause it was taking too long to write. When Kurama is talking but its '' instead of "" he's talking to Youko. Progress Report cards are coming out and I think I have a B in geom and a B in earth sci. Fuck, my parents are gonna kill me! . So I gotta hurry up and do some extra credit or something. Dad says that if I get a B in earth sci, I have to take out time to study EVERYDAY!! So if that happens my updates might be less frequent. I hate school. Ah, the necessary evils of life. And on top of that Microsoft Word is fucking up again! *Takes deep breath* I'm okay now, read on.  
  
Chapter 11-Choices, choices pt.1-the reunion  
  
Kagome stood there, utterly stunned. A lot of shit happened in about five minutes. She collected her thoughts and turned to look at Inuyasha. His eyes where guarded and his fists were tightly clenched. Her heart tightened because he reminded her of Youko. He didn't really look like him but just for the fact that he had the silver hair, gold eyes, and ears on his head. Was this how Inuyasha felt when he saw Kikyou in her?  
  
Inuyasha slowly looked up to meet her eyes. Her eyes stared to well up with tears. He looked so torn and full of anguish it ripped at her heart. Then Kagome remembered why she left him in the first place. He didn't want her, he still loved Kikyou. There was no room in his heart for her. Her jaw clenched and she looked away from him. 'Why is he pretending that this is difficult for him? Why doesn't he just hand me over and get it over with? I know he's going to.' Whispered a nasty part of her mind.  
  
"Kagome!"  
  
She looked up at Miroku, Sango, Ayame, Rin, and Shippou who were riding Kirara's back. Kagome waved her arms frantically. "Don't land here, land by Inuyasha!"  
  
They looked at her strangely but did what they were told. Miroku and Sango immediately jumped off of Kirara and started running toward Kagome. Inuyasha caught them by their collars. "Don't you think there was a reason why she told you not to land there? Use your brain." He rolled his eyes and released them.  
  
They glared at him indignantly but made no move forward. "Kagome are you okay?"  
  
Inuyasha rolled his eyes and again and snapped. "Of course she's not."  
  
Miroku struck his head with his staff. "I don't believe I was talking to you."  
  
Kagome's fingers tentatively touched her scorched back. "I'm fair."  
  
Kouga turned her around and said heatedly. "What did he do to you?!"  
  
"Nothing lasting." She assured him.  
  
"If that bastard wasn't already dead, I'd kill him."  
  
"Well he was under Kagura's control." She reasoned, not really sure *why* she was defending him. Yup, it was official she was definitely insane.  
  
"I don't give a fuck." He clenched his fists until his claws drew blood.  
  
She put her hand on his chest. "It's over now, lets just forget about. There's nothing we can do, like you said he's dead."  
  
That calmed him slightly. His strong arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her to him. Kouga buried his nose in her hair, breathing deeply. "I'm happy you're okay."  
  
Kagome buried her face in his solid chest. Clutching the edges of his armor, she cried. "I don't know what to do, Kouga."  
  
He rubbed his palms in the small of her back, soothingly. "Shh, it's alright. Everything's going to be fine."  
  
She pulled back and looked up at him with watery eyes. Kagome smiled sadly. "No, its not." She let him go and stepped back. She turned to look at her friends with a fake cheery smile. "It's great to see everybody."  
  
Sango looked worried. "What's going on? Has something happened that we don't know about?" There was a long excruciating silence, the others could tell something was seriously wrong. "Something did happen."  
  
Inuyasha spoke but refused to look at them. "Hiten was dead the whole time, Kagura was controlling him like a puppet. Hiten had brought her here so Naraku could make some twisted deal." His voice was choked, he stopped speaking.  
  
Kouga growled, everyone could feel the hate rolling off of him in waves. "Naraku wants to trade Kikyou for Kagome."  
  
Sango shook with anger. "That bastard!"  
  
Miroku laid a calming hand on her shoulder. "How long do we have?"  
  
"A day."  
  
Kouga pulled Kagome back to his chest, growling fiercely. "I won't let him have her."  
  
Inuyasha whispered dejectedly. "What about Kikyou?"  
  
"About her, turd? She's dead for crying out loud. She doesn't even have a soul!"  
  
"That's not her fault! It's mine. I owe her my life, it's my fault she died."  
  
"Kami, Inuyasha! Would you stop blaming yourself?! It was that damn Naraku, not you!"  
  
"I should have seen through his stupid plan! Kikyou died because of me! She died because she wrongfully trusted me!"  
  
"No you damn moron, she died because Naraku killed her! You make me sick with your 'o woe is me, its my fault' shit! Get over yourself." He his lips pulled back in an exasperated sneer as he clutched Kagome tighter.  
  
"Shut the fuck up, wolf! You don't know shit!" Inuyasha spat.  
  
"I know that Kagome is important to me, and you're right. I don't know if she's important to you." He hissed through clenched teeth.  
  
Inuyasha's growls were audible. "Like I said, you don't know shit!"  
  
"Shut up!" Kagome yelled. "Shut up, both of you! Can't you two get along for a second?!" She pushed away from Kouga forcefully. She stalked over to the opposite side of the enclosure, turning her back on them.  
  
Kagome blinked in surprise as a rose headed straight for her. It stopped, seemingly in midair. Then the barrier flared up, crackling with lightning before shattering around them like broken glass. A man stepped out of the shadows and picked up rose. He had long red hair and deep green eyes. He looked her in the eye with an unspoken question.  
  
'Is that her?' Kurama asked.  
  
'Yes.' Youko answered.  
  
Kagome backed away, unsettled by his gaze. In a flash Inuyasha and Kouga was between them, growling. "Who are you?"  
  
"Please excuse my rudeness. I am Suichi, but some just call me Kurama."  
  
She stopped backing away, her breath caught in her throat and her heart stopped. "Youko?"  
  
Kurama sidestepped the two men with ease. He stood next her. "Yes and no. When he was close to death he was transported into my body for safety until he regained his powers."  
  
".." Kagome just stared at him in disbelief. "Youko?" She repeated dumbly.  
  
Kouga and Inuyasha had rounded on him, both holding him up by his neck. Kurama regarded them calmly. "Put me down before I make you."  
  
Inuyasha sneered. "Wh-"  
  
Kagome put up a hand to silence him. "Put him down."  
  
He glared at her but let go, Kouga soon after him. Kurama landed on his feet unruffled. His glance at them was unreadable. "Youko has requested that I come here because of his promise to protect you."  
  
Inuyasha snorted. "She don't need his protection, she's got us."  
  
Kouga nodded. "Yeah."  
  
Kagome rolled her eyes. 'At least they're getting along.' "How do you know all of this? Can you speak with him?"  
  
"Yes, quite frequently actually." He said wryly.  
  
"How long will you be with us?"  
  
'Tell her until it is time for me to leave.'  
  
"He says until it is time for him to leave."  
  
"Did you just talk to him right now?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
Her eyes sparkled with fascination. "Can he hear everything we say?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Wow." She was quiet for a moment before looking extremely embarrassed. "Um, Youko, if you really can hear me, I want you to know how happy I am that you're alive."  
  
"He says that he had to live to keep his word."  
  
Kagome laughed, remembering their old joke. Her eyes brighten joyously and she almost hugged Kurama but then she remembered that he was not Youko. Containing her elatedness she smiled. "What else would I expect from a thief?"  
  
Kurama could feel Youko's smile. 'That's my Kagome.'  
  
Inuyasha tapped his foot impatiently. "If all the reunions are over with, we have better things to do." He grabbed Kagome from him and steered her away. She shook him off.  
  
"I want to talk to him some more."  
  
He caught her arm again, snapping her back to him firmly. "We have better things to do." He repeated through clenched teeth.  
  
Kagome ripped her arm away from him. "You better be so happy that I can't you-know-what you or there'd be 12 foot deep Inuyasha shaped crater right now."  
  
'What an imbecile.' Youko snorted. 'He doesn't know when to shut up."  
  
'It seems that way.' Kurama watched them verbally rip each others heads off.  
  
Kagome was now flailing wildly, screaming that he was not her father and could not order her around. Inuyasha shouted that he would tell her whatever the hell he felt like telling her and she would do it.  
  
She bristled. "How dar-"  
  
There was a little tug at her leg. Kagome looked down to see Rin and Shippou holding all the packages of roman noodles that they could carry. "We're hungry!" Shippou pouted.  
  
Kagome smiled, not before glaring at Inuyasha one last time. "I'll make us diner, okay?"  
  
They smiled up at her. "Can we help?"  
  
"Of course. Rin, fill a pot halfway with water. Shippou go gather some dry branches." Once they had the branches in a circle, the young kitsune lit them with his fox fire. Kagome smiled. "Now all we need is the pot."  
  
Shippou frowned. "What's taking her so long?"  
  
"Here I am!" Rin skipped along, holding Sesshomaru's hand. Jaken teetered behind them, carrying a pot bigger than he was. "Look who I found."  
  
Inuyasha visibly stiffened and pulled Kagome to him. "What are you doing here?" He spat venomously.  
  
Sesshomaru glared down his nose at him. "That's none of your concern." But he didn't look so menacing holding the hand of a nine year old girl.  
  
Rin jumped up and down excitedly. "Did you come to take Kaggy back home?"  
  
Inuyasha growled. "Listen you little runt-"  
  
"Don't call her a runt you cur."  
  
Kagome rolled her eyes and snatched the pot from Jaken. "Will you two behave?" She put the pot over the fire and whipped around to glare at them. "We are going to have dinner AND everyone WILL get along, okay?" She smiled but a vein in her forehead pulsed. "Okay?"  
  
Inuyasha rolled his eyes but didn't object. When the water boiled, Kagome dumped all the noodles in. Her head was swimming. She wanted Inuyasha to tell her up front that he wanted to trade her for Kikyou. She doubted he would with Kouga and Sesshomaru here. She needed to speak with him alone, maybe later tonight. Yes, night would be good. It would be easier to slip away to talk.  
  
She put the noodles into the bowls and passed them around. Sesshomaru sniffed it warily. "What is this?"  
  
Kagome rolled her eyes. "Its noodles, just eat it."  
  
He glared at her but Rin had stuffed a large amount of noodles at in his mouth. The noodles were sticking of his mouth and his cheeks were puffed out like a chipmunk's. His glare was less effective. Kagome stiffed a laugh, bowing her head over her bowl. "Is it good?" A smile tugged at her lips.  
  
His glare never wavering, he swallowed. "It's not poison."  
  
She rolled her eyes. He was impossible! Kagome finished before the others and looked around. Kouga and Inuyasha where shoveling the food in their mouths like there was no tomorrow. Kurama and Sesshomaru ate fast but mannerly. Shippou and Rin were in their own mini food fight. Miroku and Sango were eating but looked like they were deep in thought. Where's Ayame? She looked up to see her up in a tree, seething. Like she didn't want to be here. But then why did she come?  
  
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Well feed, everyone sat back and stared at the sunset. So much had happened to all of them and they doubted that the series of events didn't change them. Even Miroku seemed a little subdued.  
  
*SMACK* "HENTAI!!"  
  
Well maybe not. Kagome smiled and shook her head. She twirled a tendril of ebony hair around her finger. She wondered how her family was doing and if they worried about her. It had to be a good three months since she's been home. She groaned, she would be up to her eyeballs in make up work when she got back to school! 'I wonder what excuse Grandpa gave. It had better not be crabs again! That was so embarrassing...'  
  
Rin sat in Sesshomaru lap tucking her head under his chin. She stared into the fire. "It's pretty. The light it gives off is nice."  
  
"You like fire?" She nodded. Sesshomaru lit the end of a branch and gave it to her before gently pushing her out of his lap. "Go burn Jaken." Rin eyes lit up as she took the branch and went in search of the servant.  
  
Kagome smiled. 1. Sesshomaru had this civil side to himself that he only showed to Rin. 2. She disliked Jaken and would enjoy seeing him burn. An evil smirk lit across her face.  
  
"What are you thinking about?"  
  
She snapped out her wicked daydream. "Huh?"  
  
Sesshomaru tilted his head to the side. "That look on your face was iniquitous."  
  
"Oh, it was nothing." She let her mind wander farther. 'I bet he'd burn like toilet paper.'**  
  
Sesshomaru watched as another evil smirk formed on her face. He had to admit, he liked that look on her. That innocent smile she usually had plastered to her face was appalling. He wondered again, what had made her smirk like that.  
  
Kagome watched the last of the sunset disappear over the horizon in anticipation. She wanted to feel the strength course through her veins. Being stuck with Hiten had made her feel so hopeless, she needed a reassuring boost of power. Kurama watched as the silver traveled down her recently ebony locks. Ears sprouted out of her silky tendrils and twitched rhythmically, adjusting to the new intensity of sound.  
  
'Let me guess, there's something about Kagome that you didn't tell me.' Kurama thought dryly.  
  
'Kagome is a half demon.' Yuko stated simply.  
  
'One that can go between being a human and hanyou?'  
  
'Yes, isn't she an extraordinary creature?'  
  
Kagome flexed and flicked her ears forward, listening to the sounds of the forest. She was starting to get restless. She looked around at everyone sitting around, growing angry. They STILL haven't talked about the trade. Everyone was acting like it never happened. Of course *they* were, it didn't involve *them* being traded for someone else. She leaped up into the tree and then from branch to branch, wanting to get far from everyone.  
  
She finally stopped to sit on the edge of a cliff. Kagome looked at the stars and sighed. Her anger was starting to scare her. One of these days she's gonna ended up hurting someone when they do something only a little annoying. She laid down on her back.  
  
Youko was still alive, for the most part. That Kurama, he seemed so secluded and yet so absorbed. He and Youko were sort of alike she supposed. When Kurama had come, she noticed that the plants acted differently. The trees held their branches a little higher and the flowers opened up a little wider. The grass even seemed to part, making a path for him. And yet they were so different. Youko's looks seemed to say whole paragraphs. His eyes told you what he thought. His gazes were always cool and calm. Kurama's eyes were always questioning. It was like he was always evaluating something. His looks were always guarded, keeping his thoughts locked away.  
  
Kagome wasn't sure what she made of Kurama. He seemed fine she supposed. Even with him around, she still missed Youko terribly. She missed his approving looks, his graceful step, his quips. She even missed when he laughed at her and his tricks. She sighed and wished she could have gotten to know him truly.  
  
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Inuyasha watched Kagome leave and wondered if he should follow her. He had wanted to discuss the trade alone with her. This seemed like a good time so he slipped way. He leaped from branch to branch, following her scent. He loved the way she smelled, he was so mesmerized he almost didn't see an orange glow in front of him.  
  
Jaken clung to the branch. The hem of his cloak was aflame. Rin smiled sweetly up at him "Come down Jaken, I just want to play!"  
  
He shook his head. "I don't like this game!"  
  
"But you're so *good* at it!"  
  
"I am NOT coming down just so you could burn me!"  
  
Rin pointed to his charring cloak. "But you already are!" Jaken looked down at his cloak. He fell from the tree and ran toward a nearby river.  
  
Inuyasha dropped from the branch to the ground to get a better view. He had never liked the toad. Rin folded her arms and huffed. He raised his eyebrows. "What's your problem?"  
  
"I know why Sessy-sama doesn't like you."  
  
He rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah?"  
  
"Yeah, it's because you're mean."  
  
"Well, you just figured me out." He quipped.  
  
"And that's why Kaggy doesn't like you either." Rin stuck out her tongue. "She doesn't want to be around you. She wants to live with Sessy-sama."  
  
"She's staying with me." He said through clenched teeth.  
  
"What about that bad man, Naraku? He wants to trade her for that other girl. Does that mean you're going to keep Kaggy?"  
  
Inuyasha rubbed his temples. "I don't know I-" He stopped talking and turned his head. "This ain't none of your business."  
  
"Do you know that other girl? Is that why you don't know?" She pressed.  
  
"I said this ain't none of your business." He growled.  
  
"So you do know her. Who is she, what is she like?"  
  
"Butt out kid."  
  
"Well, she must be really special if your not sure if you want to trade Kaggy or not."  
  
He sighed and looked up at the stars peeking through the branches. "I used to know her a long long time ago."  
  
"What was she like?" Rin asked again.  
  
"Kikyou, she was distant. She always felt a lot of responsibility for the people of her village. She always put duty before fun. She was very loyal and kind. She loved the village children. When she wasn't nursing, she told them stories or took them to help her gather herbs. I think reason she liked them so much was because she had to grow up so fast, being the protector of the Shikon no Tama."  
  
"What else?" She asked when he fell silent.  
  
"Something happened and she died." He said flatly.  
  
Rin frowned in confusion. "How could she be dead if she's alive?"  
  
"Some old hag brought her back, long story. Now she's so different. She's even more distant than before and she hates me. I couldn't blame her, it's my fault she died. So when Kikyou goes to Hell, I'm going with her."  
  
"Why? Why go? Do you love her?"  
  
Inuyasha looked her in the eye. "I used to."  
  
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Sesshomaru finally took the time to examine the people he was sitting with. Rin had distracted him from doing so earlier. He shook his head, she was making him soft. His cold eyes slid onto Kouga. Him! That was the bastard that cut off his tail! He crouched and sprang. The wolf looked up in surprise, barely rolling out of the way.  
  
Kouga growled, wiping the dirt off him. He should have had his guard up, he let Kagome's enticing scent distract him. He hadn't wanted Sesshomaru to be here and had his defenses up during the whole meal. But when he caught of a whiff of her scent, he was in his own little world.  
  
Sesshomaru skidded before turning immediately and raising his claws to cut him. The wolf dodged him easily but he was growing tired. He needed to attack soon. Kouga stopped in mid stride and caught him off guard. He punched him in the stomach, then in the face. The lord grabbed his wrist and broke it.  
  
Sesshomaru's hand glowed a bright poisonous green before plunging toward Kouga's beating heart.  
  
**I almost set my house on fire when I lit a roll of toilet paper. I had dropped the roll on the ground and ran into the bathroom to get water to put it out. By the time it was all said and done I have a burnt hole in my carpet that I put my rug over to hide from my parents.  
  
Flamez: Looks like the trade off was put off for a nice little fight, but the decision WILL be made next chapter! 


	12. Choices, choices pt2the runaway

Flamez: Aries---I have read the one you used some of my stuff in. I wanted to say more about it but I have limited time on the comp now (to save power to save money). I love your additions to the plot. Inuyasha being a chick is always funny. I love what you did with it. Completely wicked. *Long sigh* This story will briefly go on hiatus (I won't update next week like usual). I got a B in geometry on my progress report *Weeps hysterically*. *Cracks open book* Must study! Must bring up grade!! Also, my parents are trying to save up money to pay for my sister's college so I won't be getting on the computer as often. We didn't even turn on the heat for October and half of November (and believe me, it was pretty cold down here in VA). I don't have gloves or a hat only a jacket and my ass is freezing. I'm running out of sweaters to wear (I have like 3 sweaters that I hope no one notices I keep wearing over and over). My hair is in desperate need of a relaxer and I'm going out of my mind. No heat. Lights off at 11. But thankfully it all ends in February ^-^ and if I survive I have learned a valuable lesson. Never know what you got til it's gone and when I get it back I WILL appreciate HEAT and CLOTHES. I am so thankful that I am blessed and I believe that I am strong and will make it through. I hope.  
  
Chapter 12-Choices choices pt2-the runaway  
  
Someone grabbed Sesshomaru's hair and flung him backwards. He wasn't expecting this so he was sent crashing through a several trees. Ayame stood there, snarling. Her eyes darted to Kouga then to where Sesshomaru landed. The wolf prince looked at her, unsure of what to say. She looked at him one last time before disappearing into the shadows of the forest. Watching Sesshomaru get up, he decided this would be a good time to leave. Seems he was still pissy about the whole tail thing. Kouga ran, kicking up a dirt cloud in his wake.  
  
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There was a rustling noise when someone plopped down next to her. Kagome glanced to her right at Kurama. She turned her gaze back to the horizon, betting that that he only made noise to make his presence known. It was quiet for a while but it was a comfortable silence. They were both wrapped up in their own individual thoughts.  
  
"I don't know why I'm here." Kurama finally broke the silence.  
  
"Let me guess, Youko just skimmed over the facts?"  
  
"You know him well."  
  
Kagome smiled and looked up at the stars. "Not that well."  
  
"You know him better than others." He paused. "Youko wants to know what you are going to do about the trade?"  
  
She laughed bitterly. "He always was direct. I don't know, I wanted to talk with Inuyasha but I just got mad for no reason and left."  
  
"Youko says you could always leave through the well with him."  
  
"I couldn't. I can't."  
  
"He wants to know why."  
  
"Why?" She stood. "You just can't keep running away from your problems Youko! They'll just pile up until you have no where to go. I rather just face it now instead of running in fear of it for the rest of my life." She also had a sinking feeling that Inuyasha would be very disappointed in her.  
  
"He says that if you cross through the well, you'll have nothing to worry about."  
  
"I'll have plenty to worry about. Inuyasha will probably come to get me or yell at me. What if Naraku lives to my time and comes to get me? Besides I think that going back to my time will only make the situation worse."  
  
"He says that's smart of you."  
  
"Leave it to him to say that." She plopped down in her original seat but had turned to face him. "What do I do if I'm traded?"  
  
Kurama's eyes went blank like they always did when he was listening to Youko. Then immediately he grabbed his head in pain. He let go and smiled weakly. "He doesn't seem to like that scenario. He said that he would personally see to it that the bastard is ripped apart and eaten alive."  
  
Her stomach rolled at the thought, her smile was as weak was Kurama's. "Thanks, I think." There was a thunderous sound and a sensation of three jewel shards. But it was her nose that told her first who was approaching.  
  
Kouga stopped abruptly in front of Kagome and Kurama. He eyed demon distastefully before turning a dashing grin to Kagome. "How is my woman tonight?"  
  
"I am not your woman." Came the automatic reply complete with the ever classic eye roll.  
  
He grabbed her hands and pulled her with enough force to smack her into his breastplate. "Kagome, I've made a decision since that mutt didn't. I'm taking you with me, to hell with Naraku."  
  
"I can't leave-"  
  
"Nonsense. You will be safe with me, my clan with protect you."  
  
"What is with guys and wanting to run away from everything?!" Kagome tried to push away but his strong arms locked her in place.  
  
"What's wrong with trying to protect my woman? I just want to make sure you're safe and Inuyasha's been a little flaky lately. I don't know if he will be able to choose."  
  
"I sure whatever happens will be what's best." She said flatly.  
  
"No Kagome!" She looked up at him, startled. "Do you know how much it pisses me off to see you put everyone before yourself?"  
  
"I do no-"  
  
"Yes you do. You're always thinking about everyone else. Will you for once make a decision to help yourself?"  
  
Kagome looked down and whispered, "I can't."  
  
He tilted her chin up, forcing her to look at him. "Yes you can. I will protect you much better than Inuyasha. I love you, Kagome, and I'll do anything to save you."  
  
"I don't need to be saved."  
  
"You need to be saved from yourself."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Yourself." He repeated. "If Inuyasha chooses to trade you, you'll go along with it. You would sacrifice yourself."  
  
"So what if I would?" She asked, irritated.  
  
"Kikyou already had a chance at life, you haven't."  
  
Kagome stayed silent. She had never thought about it that way. She supposed he was right. Kikyou already lived her life but she hadn't finished living hers. Her grandpa had once told her that everyone had a determined time to die. It's determined by the gods before you're born. What if it wasn't her time to go? Going with Naraku will be the equivalent to signing her death warrant. Did she want to die? Would she let herself die because Inuyasha traded her off? Would she die to let Kikyou live? Kagome realized Kouga was making perfect sense. And if she had any sense she would leave with him.  
  
But Kagome didn't have any at the moment. "I have to stay." It was more pleading than a statement. She couldn't let him talk her out of her decision. But she had a sinking feeling that if she let him talk he would convince her to leave.  
  
Kouga crushed her in a massive hug. "You're my woman Kagome, I can't let you stay to die. I love you."  
  
Kagome's statement was muffled by his armor. When he pulled away and asked her to repeat it she shook her head. He asked her again. "I said, you'll have to let me."  
  
"Are you fucking suicidal?!"  
  
"As I tried to point out earlier. Running away solves nothing. What about my friends? Miroku? Sango? Shippou? What will Naraku do to them if I run? They're like my family, I can't leave them to die."  
  
"Maybe he won't kill them." It sounded like he didn't even believe it himself.  
  
She laughed bitterly. "You know what that bastard is capable of. Look Kouga, I appreciate that you want to protect me but I'll have to decline."  
  
He sighed, defeated. "Then I will stay with you. Even if Inuyasha wants that bitch I won't let Naraku have you."  
  
Kagome smiled. "Thank you for understanding."  
  
He smiled back at her. She finally noticed how close they were. She glanced nervously to her side but Kurama wasn't there. Damn, he does move without making a sound. Kagome was starting to get really fidgety, she wanted to leave but her legs wouldn't move. She bit her lip and slowly locked eyes with him. It was amazing what one notices when one gets a close up view. His eyes were a breathtaking royal blue with small flecks of forest green that she never saw before. The weird thing is was that he didn't seem to have pupils, just endless seas of blue.  
  
"AHHHHH!" Came a screech somewhere in the forest below the cliff. A flock of birds rose out of the trees flying frantically off into the night.  
  
Concerned, Kouga tore his eyes from Kagome. "That sounded like Ayame."  
  
Kagome wiggled away from him, glad to escape. "You should go find out what happened." He glanced at her before running down the cliff's side, kicking up rocks and dirt. She rubbed the back of her neck in relief and sighed. It had been a long day and she just wanted some sleep. She would confront Inuyasha in the morning because now she was too damn tired to give a fuck. She started to walk back towards the camp when she saw Sesshomaru go past her. Well actually it was a white blur but she could guess who it was. She shrugged and kept walking but noticed that he was going in the direction of Kouga and Ayame's scents. Kagome sighed again, she could see her good night sleep being shot to hell right before her eyes. She leaped in the direction that Sesshomaru bounded in, effectively cutting him off. Wow, she was getting pretty fast.  
  
He growled at her. "Out of the way, bitch."  
  
Kagome smirked and crossed her arms. "You'll have to go through me." She had NO idea why she was openly challenging him. Hell, she thought she was crazy out her mind (ha sumtin my friend Jilesa says) for even following him. She just felt this compelling urge to get into a fight with him.  
  
He snarled, baring his pearly fangs. He placed a palm on her forehead and pushed her aside. She grabbed his arm and flipped him onto his back. Kagome winked before punching him in his right eye and then his left. He caught her fist before she managed to break his nose. He flipped over so that she was on her back before delivering a crushing blow to her stomach, making a Kagome-sized indent in the dirt. She placed her feet on his stomach and pushed, sending him flying over the edge of the cliff. But he caught her wrist, making her tumble down the cliff with him. She bit her lip as she slammed into rock after rock. Kagome landed on solid ground with an 'oof' only to be landed on by Sesshomaru.  
  
That knocked the wind out of her lungs. She laid there for a moment, desperately filling her lungs with much needed oxygen. Kagome locked eyes with Sesshomaru, just realizing that he was still on top of her. Quickly, she pushed him off and tried to escape. She didn't know if she liked the look in his eyes or not.  
  
Sesshomaru watched her start to walk off. His nostrils twitched as he took in her spicy scent. It was intoxicating. He couldn't ignore it the whole time they were fighting. It was just like the first time he fought her but this time her scent was even more alluring almost demanding. He stood, feeling disconnected from his body and caught her wrist.  
  
She spun around and the next thing she knew, his mouth was on hers. Kagome responded immediately, liking the warm sensation in her body. She threw her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. When they finally stopped for air, she looked over Sesshomaru's shoulder and straight into Inuyasha's eyes.  
  
A part of her wanted to run over to him and tell him that she didn't love Sesshomaru like she loved him. A part of her wanted to tell him that she was sorry for going behind his back and kissing his half brother. But that part was stomped out by another larger part. The bitter part. Why should she apologize to him anyway? Inuyasha had kissed Kikyou with her just standing there like a dumbass. Later she found out that that had been his first kiss which made the whole situation worse. Now it was him who watched while she had her first kiss with Sesshomaru. An eye for an eye Inuyasha, whispered a wicked voice in her head, an eye for an eye.  
  
Sesshomaru started placing hot kisses on her neck. Kagome almost gave in and kissed him again. But it seemed wrong to look someone you loved in the eye and then commenced to kissing someone else. She pulled away from him, slowly, hesitantly. "I have to go." She said hoarsely. 'Do you really want to leave? He is a great kisser. Stay with him.' Kagome did the only thing she could think of. She turned and ran.  
  
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Kouga ran through the forest. "Ayame!" There was no answer but the sounds of curses and struggling told him her location.  
  
He found her dangling by her foot from a very high tree branch. He wondered why she wouldn't just jump down but then he noticed that her whole body was hopelessly ensnared in the tress branches. Blood was rushing to her head, her face was as red as a beet.  
  
"Stop struggling, I'll get you down." He started to climb up the tree.  
  
"I can do it myself." She wheezed, not too assuring.  
  
Kouga balanced on the branch. "Wait, I'll help."  
  
"No, I can do it." She struggled some more, getting no where. He sighed and untangled her despite her objections. He cradled her to his chest jumped down.  
  
Kouga placed her on her feet. "How did that happen?"  
  
She pouted and crossed her arms. "I didn't need your help. I could have gotten down."  
  
"Yeah, sure you could have. I don't doubt that for a second." He said sarcastically.  
  
Ayame frowned. "Whatever." She turned and started walking toward the river.  
  
He jogged to catch up with her. "So..how exactly did you get caught in that tree?"  
  
"I don't want to talk about it." She deadpanned.  
  
"Tell me."  
  
"I will if you can beat me to the river." Ayame took off running before she finished the sentence. Kouga smirked and went after her, like he was going to lose to a woman. He passed her at a light jog, paused to wave, and left her to breathe in his dust. When he was about five feet from the river, Ayame leaped forward until she was right behind him then jumped on his head. She sprang off his skull and plunged into the river. When she surfaced she flashed him a victory sign. "I win."  
  
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Kagome ran through the forest. "Inuyasha!" She ducked the low branches and jumped over logs and rocks. "Inuyasha!"  
  
He practically materialized in front of her. "What?" She smacked into him with an 'oof'. When she got herself together she bit her lip and looked down. She hadn't really thought of what she would say when she actually caught up with him. "Shouldn't you be somewhere fucking Sesshomaru right now?"  
  
Kagome flinched, his words stung. "Maybe I should be, he was already my first kiss, why not make it my first time as well?" Her words were sharp and callous but there was no way to take them back now. She spun on her heel to storm away back to camp.  
  
Inuyasha caught her arm and yanked her back to him. He crushed her mouth to his, putting all his emotions into that one kiss. Anger, jealously, passion. Kagome's knees gave out, she would have fell if he hadn't been holding her up. He ignored the faint taste of his half brother and ran his tongue along her pearly fangs. Both of their hands ran through each other's silver tresses. At first, she ignored the growing pain in her cheek but when she came up air she lifted her hand to her face to smack off the flea.  
  
Inuyasha's growl was so loud that Kagome could feel its vibration on her chest. "What do you want?"  
  
Myouga shifted from foot to foot. "I have found out more about Aisaiga."  
  
His eyes narrowed. "Is that why you flaked on us?"  
  
"I wouldn't call it flaking persay-"  
  
"Out with it."  
  
"Aisaiga gives off some sort of ripples. It's a very powerful sword and when its not being used, the excess power leaks causing the carrier of the sword-" he motion towards Kagome. "-to be affected."  
  
Inuyasha rolled his eyes in impatience. "Affected how?"  
  
"They absorb the power but there's no way of telling the side effects. Luckily, I found Aisaiga's sheath." He pulled a small brown leather thing off his back. It was only three inches bigger than he was.  
  
His eyes narrowed further until they were slits. "I'm supposed to believe that that big ass sword with fit into that small ass sheath?"  
  
Myouga bristled. "I'll just have to show you then. Kagome, if you will."  
  
Kagome looked at him dumbly for a moment before retrieving the sword from her waist. She had almost forgot she had been wearing it. "What do you want me to do?"  
  
"Just hold it level. That's it." The flea slid the sheath over the sword which surprisingly shrunk to be accommodated.  
  
She blinked at the sword that was now dagger sized. "Wow."  
  
Myouga preened. "That's one of the secrets of Aisaiga's power."  
  
Inuyasha started to look interested. "So what are the secrets?"  
  
"Well I..um..don't know at exactly but-"  
  
Inuyasha picked him up from Kagome's palm and flung halfway across the forest. "Stupid parasite."  
  
She yawned widely, trying to vainly cover it. "At least Aisaiga's travel sized now." Kagome sat down against a tree and rested her back on the trunk. She closed her eyes and yawned again. She was way too tired to try to make it back to camp now and the tree was starting to look pretty good.  
  
Inuyasha sat behind her and eased her onto his lap. He rubbed her ears the way he liked his to be rubbed. He smiled when she purred lightly and snuggled into his chest.  
  
"Inuyasha?" She murmured.  
  
"Hn?"  
  
"What are you gonna do about the trade?"  
  
His back stiffed but he kept rubbing her ears. "I don't know."  
  
"I've been thinking....We don't have to go another with what Naraku says. We can find where he's hiding and we can-"  
  
"We can't." His voice was strained.  
  
Kagome stood and turned her golden eyes down on his. "Why not?"  
  
"He might hurt Kikyou if we do that."  
  
She crossed her arms and turned her back to him. "Why is everything always about her? Is the only reason why you even pay attention to me is because I remind you of her? Is that why you don't care about me anymore, because Kikyou is back? I thought-I-I-thought that I-" She turned to face him. For a second her hair turned black and her tear filled eyes chocolaty brown.  
  
It was like seeing a ghost, and for the first time he didn't see Kikyou, he saw Kagome. Just Kagome. Within a blink of an eye, she changed back, her eyes now a sad bronze and her hair silver. Inuyasha shut his eyes. He just realized---no that was wrong. He just admitted to himself that he loved her. Not because she was Kikyou's reincarnate but because she was *her*. He loved her laugh, her smile, her voice. Hell, he even loved it when she argued with him.  
  
He gathered up his courage and pushed away his pride. "At first, I thought the only reason why I always protected you and kept you near me was because you did remind me of Kikyou. But actually, you're nothing like her. That's what I like about you, you're able to be so carefree and just happy. I enjoy just being around you." But when he opened his eyes she was gone. She hadn't heard any of what he said.  
  
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Kagome ran through the woods. It helped, being in her hanyou form. The power coursing through her veins eased her mind if not the pain. The branches slapped at her, she smiled ironically. Here she was running away from Inuyasha just like the day he had turned her into a half demon. Here she was running away from her problem just like she had told Kouga, Kurama, and Youko she wouldn't.  
  
She longed to go find Kouga to talk to but she knew he was with Ayame. He was so easy to talk to, so understanding. Kagome found herself wondering where Sesshomaru had went and whether she should go looking for him.  
  
Kagome stopped in a clearing in the forest. It seems as though every one had someone to talk to but her. Kouga had Ayame, Kurama had Youko, Sesshomaru and Shippou had Rin, and Sango had Miroku. The cogs in her mind started to turn. And soon Inuyasha would have his Kikyou.  
  
She closed her eyes and whispered to the wind. "Naraku, I have made my decision."  
  
Kagome didn't know how she knew they would hear but they did. The wind kicked up and an enormous feather descended from the sky. Kagura stood there silently while Naraku leered down at her. "Yes?"  
  
"I'm coming with you."  
  
Flamez- *Dramatic music plays in background* Noooo! Kagome!!! What will happen to her now? If you want the next chapter you know what to do. 


	13. Trapped

Flamez-I'M BACK!!! Yeah! It felt weird not updating my story. I kept writing down this chapter on the edge of my drawings and napkins so I finally decided to just type it up. (I still don't know whether I brought up my geom. grade so wish me luck!)  
  
Chapter 13- Trapped  
  
"Good." Naraku pushed Kikyou to the ground. The wind behind Kagome pushed her forward and up onto the feather and into Naraku's arms. He sniffed at her neck. "You are truly exquisite."  
  
"Keep your slimy claws off me you creep."  
  
He threw his head back and laughed. "You're feisty, I'll have fun breaking her won't I Kagura?"  
  
She flinched away from him. "You will never fully break *anyone*."  
  
He backhanded her viciously. "Insolent wench! Bring us back to the castle!" The wind picked up, sending the feather flying through the air. He stroked her face with a cold finger. "You're finally mine."  
  
Kagome snapped her fangs at his finger which he promptly took back. "I will NEVER be yours."  
  
Naraku smiled mysteriously. "We'll see about that." When they landed at his dark castle, he slung his arm around her shoulders. "This could be all yours if you just give the word." He pushed her inside.  
  
"Like hell." She spat.  
  
"Now, now don't be too hasty." Naraku opened a door to a large room. The chairs were made of solid gold, chandeliers were bejeweled in rubies and diamonds, the bed was covered in the finest indigo silk, and the scent of jasmine traveled through the air. "This could be your room."  
  
Kagome was not impressed. She had seen much more riches at Youko's palace, not that she cared about that kind of stuff. She yawned. "Are you done yet?"  
  
A smile played across his lips. "Quite. Since you don't like this room maybe you'd prefer smaller accommodations. Kagura."  
  
She glared at him frostily before taking Kagome's arm to steer her away. But she wouldn't budge. "I'll escape you know, you'll never be able to keep me here."  
  
The air around them seemed to grow cold as Naraku stepped toward her. Kagura stiffened slightly and her grip tightened. He bent and whispered in Kagome's ear. "Just the thing I'd expect you to say. But I have a good reason as to why you won't even try to leave."  
  
"Why?" She snapped.  
  
Naraku licked the side of Kagura's neck. "You care too much about other people's well being. Doesn't she Kagura?" He nipped at her ear before running his hand up her shirt.  
  
Kagome turned her head in revulsion. There he was groping Kagura and she had to stand right next to them. "You're sick."  
  
Naraku let go of her and turned to face her. "The fun hasn't even started yet." He held out his hand and suddenly a bloody beating heart appeared in it. He wrapped his fingers around the organ and squeezed. Kagura grabbed her chest and gasped in pain. Kagome's face turned green. He threw back his head and laughed sadistically. Blood ran down his fingers and pooled on the ground. "You won't leave because you'll be afraid of what I'll do to her if you do. That's your only fault, Kagome. You have morals. You won't be able to live with yourself if let something happen to her." Kagura's heart and blood disappeared from his hand. "Be a good girl and go with her, okay?"  
  
She snarled but let her steer her down the hall. Kagura glanced down at her. "Playing the hero won't get you anywhere around here. You should only worry about yourself, that's the only thing that will get you anywhere." She shoved her into a small dark room and slid the door closed. Kagome's head hit the stone floor roughly and all she saw was darkness. }-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}- {}-{}-{  
  
Inuyasha followed Kagome's scent until he came to a clearing. There was a dark figure lying in a reckless heap on the ground. "Kagome!"  
  
The figure moved until it was sitting up. "She's not here."  
  
A cold feeling of dread washed over him. "Kikyou?" He asked, not wanting to believe it.  
  
"Correct."  
  
He roared in outrage. "How dare he?! That bastard! He acted like he wanted to trade but he just waited until she was alone so he could kidnap her! Wait until I get my claws around his vital organs!"  
  
"Naraku didn't kidnap her, she left willingly."  
  
He choked. "W-w-what? Why?!?!"  
  
She rolled her eyes and stood. "How am I supposed to know?" Kikyou rubbed her neck and stretched. "She called Naraku here and took off with him."  
  
"He's taking her to his castle."  
  
Inuyasha yelped in surprise. He would have usually heard or smell someone approach. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"  
  
Kurama shrugged indifferently. "It's not my fault your hearing is substandard."  
  
"Shut up!"  
  
"If you're done being an idiot, we should come up with a plan."  
  
Inuyasha glared at him. "What's with you and that pick pocket? Plans are for people who waste time."  
  
"They're actually for people with common sense. Something you're lacking."  
  
"Look here you bas-"  
  
"WHERE THE FUCK IS KAGOME?!?!?!" Kouga bellowed.  
  
Kurama waited until the dirt cloud settled around them. "She traded herself off."  
  
"WHAT?!?!" He clenched his fists until his claws drew blood. "Why the hell would she want to do that?!"  
  
"Why don't you tell them Inuyasha?" Kikyou said eerily. "You know it's all your fault don't you?"  
  
"Shut up!" Inuyasha growled.  
  
"She'll probably die or worse."  
  
"SHUT UP!!!"  
  
"But what did she expect with your history with women. She probably fell for you like a fool."  
  
Kouga picked her up by her neck in a flash. "You ungrateful bitch! She fucking save your pitiful life and you dare call her a fool?! I'll make you regret the day you were born AND the day that hag dragged your pathetic ass from the bowels of hell!"  
  
Inuyasha pressed Tetsusaiga against his throat. "Put. Her. Down."  
  
He glared at him coldly. "Get away from me. You and I know that this filthy bitch deserves to die." Kouga turned his icy eyes up to Kikyou. She just stared down at him emotionlessly, turning red from the lack of oxygen. He hated her, she disgusted him. It would be nice to have her blood on his hands. He grinned maliciously, baring his pearly fangs.  
  
"I can't just sit around and watch you kill her!" Inuyasha dug the blade into his flesh but Kouga didn't even flinch as the blood ran down his neck.  
  
But surprisingly he dropped Kikyou and punched Inuyasha in the gut making him lower Tetsusaiga from his flesh. "I'm not going to kill you, I need to know where Naraku's castle is." Kurama coughed discretely in the back ground, as if to say 'at least he is smart enough to come up with a plan.'  
  
Kikyou shook her head slightly. "No."  
  
"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN NO?!?!" He picked her up by her hair causing Inuyasha to growl warningly and press Tetsusaiga back into his neck.  
  
"There should only be one of us and it's blatantly clear to me that it is her who must go." She said blandly.  
  
Kouga shook her so hard that her legs flopped bonelessly underneath her. "Either you tell me now or I'll send your ass straight back to hell were you belong, bitch!"  
  
She laughed but it was hollow. "If I told you you'd just kill me anyway so what difference does it make? Besides he wouldn't let you." Kikyou flicked her eyes toward Inuyasha.  
  
His eyes narrowed but he dug his sword deeper into Kouga's flesh to back up her words. Inuyasha felt of seed of strong dislike bloom in his gut. He blinked in surprise. Never in a million years would he have thought he would come to dislike Kikyou. Perhaps, dare he say, abhor her. But a large part of him still remembered his old Kikyou, not the shell of a woman in front of him, the Kikyou before all the betrayal. He knew that he did not love her anymore and that part of him was nothing but emptiness but he would honor her memory but going to hell with her. It was her wish for his life to be hers and it was the very least. Inuyasha pressed further into Kouga's throat but looked at Kikyou with hard, cold eyes. He shook his head and sighed. This was getting them nowhere and they had to find Kagome fast. He lowered his sword. "Just tell him Kikyou."  
  
She blinked once in mild surprise. "No."  
  
"You owe her for saving your life."  
  
"That was her own folly, I did not ask her to."  
  
Kouga growled and yanked harshly on her hair. "You filthy ungrateful mother fucking bitch!"  
  
Inuyasha said calmly. "You're right Kikyou, I won't let him kill you but that doesn't mean I won't let him rip off a few limbs."  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah right."  
  
He shrugged indifferently and started to walk away. "Do whatever you need to get her to talk Kouga."  
  
"You're bluffing. You wouldn't let Kagome hurt me and you won't let Kouga either."  
  
He kept walking without looking back. "Wanna bet?"  
  
}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}- {}-{}-{ When Kagome woke, her limbs were stretched out and shackled to the ground. The floor was gray stone that chilled her back. The walls were a dingy brown paper. She could see the outlines of the people neighboring her. She could smell a vile stench. The place reeked of feces, puke, urine, disease, and death. She desperately held back her vomit.  
  
The person on the right of her, she assumed he was a man, started shouting incomprehensibly. Kagome tried to cover her ears but her hands were shackled. She wriggled, trying to get as far way from the racket as possible. She groaned and rocked from side to side. It was her decision to come here. She would be strong. Being here was better than living with Inuyasha who desperately wanted to be with Kikyou. It was painfully obvious, the way his eyes got misted over he thought about her. It hurt her to admit it but he would probably never love her.  
  
Love, what a joke. Love wasn't what everyone tried to make it seem. They said it was this wonderful feeling that they hoped that she was experience one day. But she now knew the truth, love was hell. Pure hell. It felt like someone ripped out her heart and pissed on it. She wished she never laid eyes on Inuyasha. She wished she never went through that stupid well. She would NEVER EVER fall in love EVER AGAIN.  
  
Kagome squeezed her shut. She hadn't realized it until now but Inuyasha wasn't the only person she loved. Somewhere from the time this whole mess started and now she had fallen in love with the ever mysterious Youko and the boisterous Kouga. And perhaps................perhaps someone else...... }-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}-{}- {}-{}-{  
  
Inuyasha kept walking and tried not to listen to what Kouga was doing. Right now all that mattered was getting Kagome back. He needed to see her again, hold her again. He needed to tell her that he loved her. When he got her back he would never let her go.  
  
Shippou came out of nowhere and jumped on him. His eyes were flooding with tears. "Where's Kagome?! What did you do with her?!"  
  
He shook him off. "I didn't do anything with her. She-she left."  
  
"Where did she go?"  
  
He was silent for a while before saying. "Naraku's castle."  
  
The kitsune wailed. "She's gonna die!!!"  
  
"She's not gonna die!"  
  
Shippou jumped on him again, clawing at his face. "You jerk, what are you still doing here? We should be looking for Kagome! If she dies I'll never forgive you!"  
  
"Since when was this my fault?!"  
  
"You let her leave! You let her go with him!"  
  
"No I didn't!"  
  
"Who left?" Rin asked from her spot under the tree.  
  
Shippou sniffed. "Kagome."  
  
"We have to find her! We have to save her!"  
  
Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Yeah well there's just one problem, I don't know where the hell Naraku's castle is."  
  
Rin kicked his shin. "You better figure it out quick! You're just as stupid as Sesshy-sama said!"  
  
"Sesshomaru doesn't know where it is either so shut the hell up!"  
  
"Don't go speaking for me cur." Sesshomaru said coldly.  
  
Rin ran over to him and clutched his leg. "We have to find Kagome!"  
  
Inuyasha crossed his arms. "I'm to believe you know where it is?"  
  
"I know how to find it."  
  
"And just how are we gonna do that?"  
  
"Can't that old hag in that village detect negative energy?"  
  
"Don't you think we tried that one already? Naraku's got that place well hidden."  
  
"With the use of a certain book, we can get around that problem."  
  
"What book?"  
  
"It's a book that shows how to dismantle the most complex spells. With it that hag will be able to find the castle easily."  
  
"Oh yeah, where is this so called book."  
  
"In Youko's library."  
  
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Kagura watched Kana walk down one of the dark halls of the castle. She was so young and so innocent. It was wrong that she had to see so much bloodshed at such a young age. The little youkai is her only family and she wanted a better life for her. She was the only reason why she stayed. Deep inside, Kagura knew if she escaped Naraku would crush her heart but it was better then this life.  
  
She was disgusted with herself. Naraku had complete control over her, he had her heart. Kagura rubbed her chest absently remembering the agony she felt when he squeezed it. When he had created her, he had took her heart out of her body but somehow kept her alive. It was his way of insuring she would never rebel. If only he knew the reason why was because she didn't want Kana to have to live her life truly alone. She also felt so filthy. When he touched her she felt like she was going to hurl. But what could she do? She didn't even enjoy killing anymore. There was a time that slaughtering was an outlet for the pain but now it gave her no satisfaction.  
  
Kagura turn down the hall and held her head high. She took every opportunity to show Naraku that he disgusted her. He wouldn't let him break her no matter what. One of these days SHE would crush HIS heart in her hands.  
  
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Kagome tried to curl into a ball but couldn't. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes but she refused to cry. She bit her lip, she didn't want to give Naraku the satisfaction. She would rather stay here until her body was nothing but ashes then give her body to him. He was one twisted and demented bastard. She would lie in this cell until her body rotted just to spite him.  
  
She stared at the wooden ceiling, reflecting. Everything that happened made her life so confusing. Being a hanyou, Courting Rituals, Vaniliy. Kagome shot up in shock, but immediately laid back down when the shackles yanked painfully at her wrists. How could she have forgotten?! Through all that had happened she had forgotten his strange and confusing words. Well Kagome supposed she had plenty time now to sort them out.  
  
Now what had he said.....Some thing about being blind or was it just not being able to see? No, no it was that she had to see but must not see. Then he said she had to doubt something. And after that he said she had to kill someone to save someone. She had to hate so she could love..And something else but she couldn't remember. Kagome had a funny feeling that it was important.  
  
Kagome's train of thought was cut off but a searing pain in her head. Another damn headache, she was getting those a lot lately. She groaned in pain, if felt like her head was splitting in two. The room felt suddenly cold, a chill went up her spine. 'You're pathetic', the wind seemed to say but the air in the room was still. At first she thought she was going insane and diagnosed herself with schizophrenia. Then she actually paid attention to what the air around her seemed to say. 'No one loves you.' 'You're friends are glad that you're gone.' 'You're weak.' 'You're going to be here for the rest of your pitiful life.' 'He will have you, you will break down and he will have you.'  
  
She tried to ignore it but she couldn't. It got to her. All of her doubts and fears were being thrust into her face. Kagome squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block the cold words out. Then it struck her as clear as day. Vaniliy's important words that she had forgotten. In order to live she had to die.  
  
She had to die.  
  
Die.  
  
Die.  
  
Die.  
  
Did she want to die? Just then she felt Aisaiga's hilt press up against her hip. She twisted and hit her hip against the stone floor until it clattered out of her waistband. Kagome lifted her butt off the floor and shoved it to her right hand. She groped for the sword until she got a firm grip on it. 'Do it, kill yourself.' The air around her hissed. 'Take your life.' In a trance like state, she slid the sheath off with her thumb. In order to live she had to die.  
  
Flamez-NO KAGOME DON'T!!! Suicide is never the answer people. Find out what happens in the next chapter. 


	14. Light in my darkness

Flamez-Is it just me or does a lot of peoples names on this show start with a K? Kagome, Kouga, Kana, Kagura, Kikyou, Kaede, Kohaku. Freaky. Sorry if Naraku is OCC, I just started watching the show and I haven't gotten everyone's personality right. I STILL have a B in geom. WAH!! My updates might be a little late cuz I got to study. But I will try my HARDEST to get my chapters to you ON TIME.  
  
Chapter 14-Light in my darkness  
  
Kagome pressed the cold blade to her wrist and closed her eyes. What was the point any way? She was just going to rot here, why not just end it early? No one would miss her, her friends would get on just fine. Inuyasha certainly wouldn't miss her, not with Kikyou around. Shippou might be sad at first but Rin would make him feel better. Yes, this was the best choice. It made the most sense. She inhaled deeply and started to apply pressure to the steel.  
  
Just then a door that she didn't know was there slid open. Quickly, Kagome let go of the blade and hid it under her back. Kana walked in with a bowl of noodles. She didn't say anything, she only set the bowl down and put the chopsticks next to it. Kagome narrowed her eyes. "Gee, great. Thanks for the food I that I won't be able to eat." She was referring to the shackles.  
  
Kana bent over and pulled at her shackled wrists until they lifted from the stone. The shackles were connected to the ground by iron chains, just long enough for Kagome to sit up and eat. The girl left silently and slid the door close. She looked down at the bowl, her stomach growling. No, she wouldn't take a damn thing they gave her. With a feral growl she chucked the bowl through the left paper wall. The bowl tore through it like tissue paper, creating a surprisingly large hole.  
  
"KEEP YOUR SHIT!!!" Kagome hollered at the top of her lungs.  
  
"Thanks for the extra noodles, but I have to ask you to not shout. Than old coot next to you does enough of it." Came a cheery voice from the hole in the wall.  
  
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Inuyasha tapped his foot impatiently. "Have you found the fucking book yet?"  
  
Kurama glanced over his shoulder. "Obviously I haven't or I wouldn't still be looking. If you want to find the book so bad, I suggest you come over here and look."  
  
Kouga kept a firm hold on Kikyou's arm while he looked around the large volumes of books. "I don't like this place. It feels like I'm being watched."  
  
Inuyasha rolled his eyes as he examined a book on a shelf. "If you're so scared why don't you just wait outside?"  
  
The wolf glared at him. "I just don't have a good feeling about this."  
  
"You shouldn't be so damn paranoid. Maybe it came from running away from all those people. Think they finally caught up to ya?" He threw the book over his shoulder and went on to look at another. Kouga growled while his eyes darted around.  
  
Miroku flipped through a book. "I think he's right, I'm sensing a presence here."  
  
Sango nodded after picking up another book. "Me, too."  
  
Inuyasha threw up his hands in exasperation. "What is it with you people?! What about you Sesshomaru? Do you sense some evil spirits?"  
  
Sango frowned and looked around. "He's not here."  
  
Inuyasha chucked another book over his shoulder. "Where did he go?"  
  
"I'm right here." Everyone jumped and turned. Sesshomaru was holding two struggling children by their ankles. One was a girl with long emerald hair in a high ponytail and chestnut skin held back with a white furry bandana and the other had his emerald hair slicked back into a low ponytail.  
  
The girl thrashed and kicked. "Let me go you filthy bastard! How dare you put your hands on me?!"  
  
Sesshomaru looked at her as if she was something nasty he stepped in. "Fine by me." He dropped her and boy.  
  
The boy was the first to get up. He slid into a fighting stance, growling. "*I* wasn't the one who said they wanted to be dropped."  
  
Kurama put his book down. "Elzim, Phys stop." The two demons quieted but kept glaring at Sesshomaru.  
  
The western lord crossed his arms. "There's more hiding around this room. I don't appreciate being spied on. By the way, here's the book we're looking for." He tossed the book to Kurama.  
  
He caught it easily. "Everyone, come out." Slowly four more demons shuffled out from behind various bookcases. "What were you doing hiding?"  
  
Qunei thrust her chin in the air. "We want to know what's going on."  
  
"Why are these people here?" Ciwv inquired.  
  
Kyre nodded. "Where is Kagome?"  
  
Atto asked quietly. "What happened to my lord? Why is your hair red and eyes green? Are you under a spell?"  
  
"We're trying to find a book to help use rescue Kagome from Naraku's castle. As for being under a spell...you could say that." He answered their questions easily in exact order.  
  
Elzim looked livid. "Who put a spell on you?!"  
  
"That's irrelevant. We've found the book we wanted, we'll be leaving now."  
  
"My lord, wait." Qunei said, thinking rapidly. "Bymr (Bye-mere) will have something that can turn you back to normal. Temporarily most likely but it probably be useful if you want to break into Naraku's castle."  
  
That stopped him in mid stride. "Take me to her."  
  
She tipped her head in a bow like gesture. "Yes my lord." She waited until he was next to her before he led him of the library.  
  
Inuyasha threw up his hands in exasperation. "Naraku's probably gutted her by now."  
  
Miroku sighed. "You shouldn't be so impatient nor pessimistic."  
  
"Why, it's not good for my karma?" He said flippantly.  
  
Sesshomaru drowned out their meaningless chatter while he looked around. His surroundings didn't interest him for he had seen them already and even then he could care less. He had gotten what he had come for and frankly he had half the mind to leave these fools here and go get Kagome his damn self. But he wasn't stupid, he knew he couldn't go barging into Naraku's castle by himself. He didn't doubt for a second that he was stronger than him but Naraku was one unpredictable sick son of a bitch. The smart thing to do would be to keep his irritation under control and wait. Something he absolutely despised. He wanted Kagome here right now. Even though she infuriated him to no end, he couldn't forget how soft her lips were, how good she smelled, how it felt to have her pressed against him. Kagome had changed him, even if it were only small changes it affected him greatly. He wasn't sure if he liked them. Ever since Sesshomaru laid eyes on her his life was never the same. She tested his control, pushed at his resolve. His nights used to be dreamless but now they were full of her. Her. He was so frustrated and confused that he wondered if he should have just killed her like he had wanted to.  
  
Kurama returned with two white cotton sacks in his hand. "Alright let's go."  
  
Elzim crossed her arms and thrust her chin in the air. "We wish to go too my lord."  
  
He regarded her for a moment. "Who is we?"  
  
"*All* of us."  
  
"Meet us when I send the signal, until then wait here." He turned on his heel and walked out. The rest of them followed.  
  
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She scrambled to get to her feet but the chains on her arms wouldn't allow her. Frustrated, Kagome yanked at her chains. Surprisingly, they extend farther from the ground. She pulled until she had enough chain to walk to the hole. She stuck her head into the other room and was confronted by bright red eyes. Kagome squeaked and tumbled backwards in shock, landing on her butt.  
  
The man stuck his head in the room. He had long bright orange hair that went to his shoulders. His eyes were slanted and red rimed in yellow. His tan face was angular and strong. He didn't look any older than 19. He smiled, good humored. "Am I that ugly?"  
  
Kagome scrambled to her feet and blew her bangs out of her face. "No-no-I'm just surprised. It's not every day you come face to face with red eyes."  
  
He raised an eyebrow. "What did you expect in a place like this?"  
  
"True.."  
  
"My name is Syeaiki (Sci-i-key)."  
  
"I'm Kagome."  
  
His nostrils twitched and he leaned forward causing her to lean backward nervously. "What are you exactly?"  
  
She blinked. "Hum-hal-um-confused."  
  
Syeaiki threw back his head and laughed. "Confused, good one. I like your style." His smile grew. "I'm a fire demon myself."  
  
Kagome leaned forward in interest. "Why don't you just leave?" After a second thought she added. "Are you even a prisoner?"  
  
"Yeah, I am. Why don't I leave? Don't you think I tried? That man has got so many wards on my room that you could set fire to it if you dosed it with wine. Enough about me, what about you? Why are you here?"  
  
"Trade." She said simply.  
  
"Ah." He said wistfully. "The classic trade ploy. That's how he got me too." There was a short silence before he asked. "Did you want those noodles?"  
  
Kagome laughed. "No."  
  
"You know, I thought about starving myself when I first got here too. But I realized that a life is too precious to throw way, no matter what kind of torture you go through....that and I was hungry as hell."  
  
She smiled. "I'll probably break down and eat tomorrow, but for now I couldn't stomach anything."  
  
He gave her a quick grin before going to get the spilled noodles. "Hey! You get more food than me, no fair! I've been here longer!"  
  
She laughed. "Of course it's fair, I'm more likable."  
  
Syeaiki pouted. "That hurts."  
  
"Ah, the truth tends to."  
  
He smiled widely. "It's fun to have to someone to speak to besides that grouch Zitinou (Zee-ten-no)."  
  
"Shut up, moron!" Came a surly voice from above.  
  
Syeaiki went on cheerfully. "Don't mind him, he's just upset that he hadn't had a good fight in-"  
  
"Five years!" Zitinou shouted.  
  
"-five years. I had to be locked up under his room for four of them."  
  
"Four miserable years!"  
  
Kagome looked up at the ceiling in amazement. He had some powerful lungs. "That long?"  
  
Syeaiki smiled but this one didn't reach his eyes. "Well, it hasn't been *that* long. One loses track of time here."  
  
She looked up with she heard some noises come from above. "What's that?"  
  
"Oh that's just Zitinou." He said absently, as if that explained everything.  
  
There was a clash of chains and a loud thud. "What was that?"  
  
"Zitinou." He said a bit slower as if she was stupid.  
  
She rolled her eyes and stuck her head in the hole in the wall. In the middle of the floor stood a man that must have been the infamous Zitinou. His hair was a midnight blue that was swept up into short spikes. His eyes were almond shaped and lime green with slotted black pupils. The shackles and chains where still connected to his wrists and ankles. Kagome's eyes followed the chains up to a hole in the ceiling and decided that she didn't want to know.  
  
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Kana slid the door back and stepped into the room. His room was slightly smaller than the others, not that he matter that much. He did speak or move. He just sat there, blinking every once in a while to prove that he wasn't a statue. She sat down next to him and gathered the noodles in the chopsticks and fed him. He swallowed the noodles, still looking straight ahead. She remembered the time she had learned his name. Kohaku. She liked the sound of it. He was the only person she felt like she could talk to. He something she looked forward, he made the days worth living through. It was like he was a symbol that there were good things in the world if you just knew where to find them.  
  
"The girl that Naraku is obsessed with is here. I don't know why he is but- " She shrugged slightly and fed him more noodles. "-I don't think I want to know. I wonder what he has planned for her. Whatever it is it can't be good. I think he's been planning something big for a while now. It might have something to do with that girl. Her name is Kagome, I think. I wonder what she did to catch his eye."  
  
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Zitinou cracked his neck. "Girl?"  
  
"Kagome."  
  
"Circumstance?"  
  
"Trade."  
  
She blinked, it seemed as thought they were talking about normal everyday things. For someone who had a lot to say earlier, they didn't talk much now.  
  
Zitinou spat on the ground to show his distaste. "What a spineless bastard. If only I could get my hands around his throat."  
  
Syeaiki whispered behind his hand to Kagome. "He's a little bitter."  
  
His gave him a look that could burn water. "A little bitter?! I'll fucking show you a little bitter!" He punched the ground causing a giant crack in the stone.  
  
"No need to be hostile."  
  
"Hostile?! I'll fucking show you hostile!"  
  
"Well could you show me hostile in your own room? I don't want you destroying my floor any further."  
  
Zitinou glared at him. "You make me sick."  
  
"I know I do." He said carelessly.  
  
He turned his glare to Kagome. "You fight?"  
  
"A little, I guess."  
  
"How about a simple yes or no?"  
  
"Well, yes." He looked her over before climbing up his chains and disappearing into the hole in the ceiling. "Okay...."  
  
Syeaiki glanced at her before licking the rest of the noodles from the bottom of the bowl. "You might want to take a couple steps to the left."  
  
Kagome, still looking confused, did what he said. "That still doesn't explain what he's doi-" There was a noise that sounded like the rattling of chains. She turned to see Zitinou standing behind her, cracking his neck. Slowly Kagome looked up to see a square hole in her ceiling. Great.  
  
Then she blinked in surprise as a man descended from the ceiling. He floated downwards as if he was as light as a feather. His eyes were closed and his legs were crossed with his hands resting on his knees. His skin was slightly pale like porcelain and seemed to give off a faint light. His waist length hair was a snowy white and always seemed to be moving as if he was underwater. He had a calm oval face with high cheekbones. When he stopped about a foot off the ground he opened his eyes. His eyes were oval with icy blue irises and round white pupils. When he looked at her, her headache flared ten times over and she felt this enormous pressure on her shoulders like something was pressing on them. He blinked and feeling was gone.  
  
Syeaiki smiled at the man. "Came to see the new girl?"  
  
He grinned, but his searching eyes never left hers. "Yes."  
  
Kagome blinked. Wow was to say the least. This guy was amazing, aside from his looks there was just something about him. "I'm Kagome."  
  
He bowed slightly. "Kyo." (I fell in love with that name from the first time I read Samurai Deeper)  
  
Zitinou tapped his foot impatiently. "Enough with the small talk. I want to see how much this girl knows about fighting."  
  
She looked down at her chained appendages. "I've never fought in shackles before." She said dubiously.  
  
"There's a first time for everything." He leaped at her. Acting on reflexes, she jumped out of the way before leaping at him. He wrapped his chains dangling from his right arm around her leg and yanked sending her butt crashing to the ground. With another yank he had her dangling in the air by her leg. He sighed. "I was hoping you could be a challenge but I guess I was wrong."  
  
Kagome glared at him as indignity flared up inside of her. She'd show him challenge. Her hair turned silver and her eyes gold, her ears pricked forward with alertness. She wrapped the chain dangling from her left arm around both his legs and pulled so that he sprawled forward. She wrapped the chain from her right arm around his arms and lifted him off the ground. She slammed him into the ground, drawing various crunching sounds from his body. Zitinou grabbed her chains, sending her body smacking into his. He wrapped his chains around her chest and tightened until she was gasping desperately for air. Kagome tried to claw at him but she was hopelessly tangled. She wondered dimly if her ribs were cracking. Slowly the pressure on her lungs let off.  
  
Zitinou dropped her, withdrawing his chains from her. He scowled down at her before smirking. "You'll do."  
  
Kagome gulped down air greedily. "Do for what?"  
  
Syeaiki rolled his eyes. "He's been looking for a sparring partner for some time now."  
  
"Sparring partner? I don't want to be anyone's sparring partner."  
  
Zitinou cracked his neck. "Too bad, we start tomorrow."  
  
She glared at him. "That's what you think." But he ignored her. He sat on the cold stone floor with the clang of his chains. Kagome looked over at Kyo who had been staring at her. "So, what kind of demon are you? You are a demon right?"  
  
He grinned languidly. "Yes, I am an air demon."  
  
She blinked. "Air, like wind?"  
  
He shook his head. "There's a difference."  
  
"What?" Kyo looked at her like the first time she saw his eyes. His icy orbs entranced her, all she could see was him. Then a pain flared in her head as her lungs were extracted of their oxygen. Her body heat plummeted, her lips started to turn a purplish blue. He blinked and suddenly the air when racing back into her sore lungs. Kagome rubbed her chest where it felt like sharp shards of ice had stabbed her. "Definitely a difference." She confirmed when she was finally able to speak.  
  
Kyo grinned his languorous grin again. "It's a common mistake."  
  
Kagome let her curiosity get the best of her. "What else can you do?"  
  
"I can control every aspect of the air around us. I can make it hot or cold. I can make it come to me, like I did with you." He tilted his head slightly. "There are other things I suppose but I've never tried it."  
  
"So how do you float like that?"  
  
"That's enough questions. You," Zitinou pointed to her, "need to go to rest for our sparring session tomorrow." He glared at her to make his point before climbing up his chains and disappearing in the hole in the ceiling.  
  
Kyo shook his head. "I should be going to. I need to meditate." He nodded his head in a farewell and disappeared into the hole, too. Kagome stared up at the ceiling as a cover slid over the hole, making it disappear.  
  
Kagome shook her head. "You know some really strange people."  
  
Syeaiki shrugged nonchalantly. "What do expect in a place like this?"  
  
"True."  
  
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Kana walked in the room with her head down. Naraku smiled but that only made her worry. He never smiled unless he was planning something nasty. "I have noticed your little fixation with that boy."  
  
Kana's body grew cold with panic but her face never wavered from her unresponsive mask. He knows. This could be disastrous.  
  
Naraku's smile grew nastier. "He'll never have feelings for you. I'm only telling you this so you don't get your hopes up."  
  
'No you're wrong!' She wanted to tell him but she just stared at him absently.  
  
"He's made friends with a little girl. He even talks to her."  
  
'He's lying, don't listen to him.' Kana told herself over and over. She WOULDN'T let him get to her.  
  
"He never talks to you does he? That's because he doesn't want to. He likes Rin. You can even check your mirror."  
  
She knew an order when she heard one. She slowly looked down at her mirror. An image started to form in its glassy depths and voices started to become audible.  
  
"Um, hello?"  
  
He looked up at her with pleasant chocolate eyes. "Oh hello there, I didn't notice you there. I'm name is Kohaku."  
  
"I'm Rin. Do you live around here?"  
  
"Actually I'm heading toward a village in the east."  
  
"Wow, that's where I'm going."  
  
"We can travel together. I would appreciate the company and I have plenty of food."  
  
"That sounds like a great idea." She got up and followed him out of the clearing.  
  
The picture faded, leaving Kana there shattered. Her silent friend wasn't really silent. He just hadn't wanted to talk to her. She had poured her heart out to him and he just practically spat on it. She fought to keep her face composed. 'I'm glass, I am smooth, I am calm.' She repeated in her head until she knew she had everything under control.  
  
He shook his head in mock sadness with that smile still cruelly twisting his lips. "What did I tell you? He rather be friends with that girl. Unless....."  
  
Kana's heart hitched. Unless was never a good thing. Not with Naraku.  
  
He continued. "Kagome, she could be the answer to solving your problem. She knows the girl very well. She could find the girl a new friend so that you could have Kohaku all to yourself. You'd like that wouldn't you?" He looked down his nose at her, his eyes laughing at her coldly. "All you have to do is starting being friendly with Kagome, until she lets her guard down. Then I want you to take her will and make it mine."  
  
Kana knew she had the power to do so. Once Kagome let her guard completely down, she could trap her will in her mirror like she could with souls. But could she deceive someone like that? Could she? She remembered her long talks with Kohaku and hung her head in shame. Yes, yes she could.  
  
Flamez-Looks like Naraku has something up his sleeve, I wonder what it is. *Scratches chin* 


	15. The fault must lie somewhere

Flamez- It's spelled Kanna? Okay. You've got it. Wow Selenity Jade reviewed my story. *Gushes* I LOVE your BV fics. I'm a big fan. I recommend reading her work, it's always very good!  
  
Chapter 15-The fault must lie somewhere  
  
Kaede read the page with a frown on her face. "This spell is complicated."  
  
"Yeah, yeah but can you do it?" Inuyasha asked curtly.  
  
She glared at him. "Aye, that is if I had the proper ingredients. Some of the ones on the list are extremely rare."  
  
Kurama handed her a white cotton sack. "Here's everything that you'll need. It's all measured correctly, too."  
  
She took the bag and looked inside skeptically. She blinked in disbelief before nodding. "I'll start now."  
  
"You better you old hag." Inuyasha muttered under his breath. He was so sick of sitting around and waiting. Every second they sat around her, Kagome could be in excruciating pain. It was all his fault. Everything was always his fault. He should have followed her after she ran away from him. But no, like a dumbass he let her go calm down before approaching her. Stupid, stupid, stupid. He should have known. He should have been there. He could have prevented all of this. His ears plastered against his head and his shoulders dropped in shame.  
  
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"Get up." Someone prodded her with a foot, none too gently.  
  
Kagome groaned and mumbled. "Five more minutes mom."  
  
The foot kicked her. "I said get up!"  
  
Her eyes cracked open slowly to see something hovering pompously over her face. She moaned. "Go away. I need sleep."  
  
Zitinou crossed his arms and kicked her again. "I told you to go to bed early but you didn't listen so it's your fault. Don't make me tell you to get up again."  
  
Kagome glared sleepily up at him. She wanted to rip his head off. She, not being a morning person, did NOT appreciate being woken up so early and in this fashion. "Go to hell you heartless bastard." She closed her eyes again, trying to get him to go away.  
  
"We are going to spar, now. So I suggest you get your lazy ass up!"  
  
Kagome growled, eyes still shut. "Fuck off."  
  
His eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. He moved to kick her again but she caught his foot. Off balance, he stumbled and fell. She flicked her wrist upward to the left, sending him flying through the screen wall. She sighed happily and closed her eyes yet again.  
  
"Damnit Zitinou, get off me!" Syeaiki commanded. He wasn't a morning person either.  
  
Kagome was so frustrated she wanted to kick and scream. Can a girl get some fucking sleep around here?! She sighed because she knew she was fully awake with no chances of returned to dream world anytime soon. She sat up slowly. Her back ached from sleeping on the stone floor and her clothes were starting to smell like her surroundings, which wasn't pleasant. She shifted to get a kink out of her back and suddenly a sharp stab of pain shot through her skull. She gasped and grabbed her head. The pain was almost unbearable, even though her eyes were closed she still saw white. It seemed to go on forever, her body back to shake uncontrollably. Then two cool fingers touched her forehead. The pain began to ease away gradually until it disappeared. Slowly Kagome opened her eyes.  
  
Kyo looked at her with troubled eyes. "Is everything okay?"  
  
Kagome wiped her blood from the corner of her mouth and looked around. Syeaiki was looking at her with concern while Zitinou looked indifferent. "I'm fine."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"No."  
  
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Sesshomaru closed his eyes and leaned his head against the outside of the hut. He breathed in and out rhythmically while he gathered his emotions and locked them behind a wall in his mind. He needed a clear head if he wanted to do this the right way. He had to have all of his control back if he were to go up against Naraku. Emotions were nothing but a distraction and nuisance.  
  
Rin pounced on his lap and laid her head on his chest. "What are you doing, Sesshy-sama?"  
  
"I'm thinking. Why don't you go rip something off of Jaken?"  
  
She pouted. "I want to be with you."  
  
He suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. "And why is that?"  
  
"I want you to tell me a story."  
  
"I don't know any stories." He said impatiently.  
  
"You could make one up." She looked up at him hopefully.  
  
He sighed. "If I do this will you go play with that little boy immediately after I'm done?"  
  
She nodded. "I promise."  
  
"There was a boy-"  
  
"What was his name?" She interrupted.  
  
He glared at her. "I was getting to that. There was a boy named Kai. He-"  
  
"What did he look like?"  
  
He gritted his teeth. "Black hair, brown eyes, tan skin, tall. Happy?" She nodded. Sesshomaru went on. "Kai was on a journey to find a ring-"  
  
"Why was he looking for the ring?"  
  
"I was getting to that. He was looking for the ring because it was said to give the wearer immortality. While on his-"  
  
"Why did he want to be immortal?"  
  
"Do you want me to finish the story or not?"  
  
"I do."  
  
"Then let me tell it with out interruptions." He exhaled morosely before continuing. "On his way to find the ring he befriended a young girl named Miyako who had a map showing were the ring was hidden. While looking for the ring they fell in love and Kai was thinking about giving the ring to her when they found it. When they reached the underwater cavern where the ring was hidden, Miyako drowned and devoured him. She wasn't an ordinary girl, she was a water sprite whose duty it was to prevent anyone from putting the ring on. She led him to the ring and killed him so that no one would know of their journey. She ate him because she couldn't stand the thought of another water sprite seeing his face and falling in love with him. Miyako lived in misery for the rest of life because of what she did. The end, now go away."  
  
Rin sniffed. "That was a sad story."  
  
"Oh well, now go." He pushed her gently off his lap and watched her scurry away.  
  
Sesshomaru closed his eyes again. His breathing evened as he tried to clear his mind. But it was no use. Kagome's face kept flashing across his mind. No, he was NOT going to let her get under his skin. She was just a dirty half blood and formerly a filthy human. He didn't even know which was worse, both made his stomach turn with revulsion. He growled lowly in his throat, reminding himself he was supposed to be concentrating. But he couldn't.  
  
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Syeaiki surveyed his wall. "At least I got the window I always wanted." He was referring to the now two holes in the paper between his and Kagome's rooms.  
  
Zitinou growled. "You owe me a fight, girl."  
  
She glared. "It's Kagome you prick. Ka-go-me."  
  
"That's irrelevant. Just get your lazy ass up and fight me."  
  
Kyo gazed coolly at him. "She's in no condition to fight."  
  
He scowled at him menacingly. "Then get her into condition!"  
  
Kagome held her head. Maybe it was the lack of food. That made perfect sense. No wait, it didn't. This happened a few times before. Maybe she was dying, it certainly had felt like it. She patted herself down frantically as if making sure her body was intact. She felt fine now, maybe it was just a headache. Maybe she was just being paranoid. During exam time she used to get serious migraines, was this any different?  
  
"If you try to fight her now she could be permanently injured. In layman's terms, your terms, you won't be able to fight her ever again. So why don't you be quiet and let me examine her?" Kyo turned before he could answer and started lifting her eye lids and turning her head gently from side to side. "The air around you doesn't give off any signs of sickness."  
  
Kagome let him inspect her. "You can tell if the person is sick?"  
  
"Only certain types of sicknesses, the ones that travel through the air. Diseases are hard to tell by this method."  
  
"What else can you tell about the air around someone?"  
  
"I can tell who wishes me ill. I know who is about to die." He shrugged. "I've been able to do a lot of things for so long I take them for granted. I forget it's anything special because it's second nature to me."  
  
Kagome nodded in understanding. When she had first got the ability to sense jewel shards she thought it was so great. Then she got so used to it that she forgot that everyone else couldn't do it. She wondered about the extent of his abilities. He seemed to be so care free about it but she could feel an aura of power around him.  
  
Kyo dropped his hand from her face. "You'll be fine, but I suggest you rest." Zitinou muttered a string of curses and climbed back up to his room.  
  
Syeaiki rolled his eyes. "He can be such a baby sometimes."  
  
Kyo stiffened and looked at the door. "She's coming, we have to go."  
  
Kagome frowned. "Who?"  
  
"Kanna." He answered as he started to leave.  
  
She watched them go. She didn't like Kanna very much. The girl always seemed so cold and distant, like a ghost. Being in the same room with her made Kagome shiver with apprehension. The door slid open and the girl padded in softly. She put a bowl down in front of her silently. But this time her eyes flicked up to meet hers for a moment. Kagome blinked and Kanna had already begun to leave. However meaningless the look may have seemed, it creeped her out.  
  
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Rin, still sniffling, skipped off in search of Shippou. She found him curled into a ball under a tree. He was shaking violently with his face in his hands. She touched his shoulder lightly. "What's wrong?"  
  
"N-n-no-things *sniffle* w-wr-ong." He choked.  
  
"Yes there is you can tell me."  
  
"L-l-lea-ave me-me alone."  
  
"You should tell me what's bothering you."  
  
"G-g-go away!"  
  
"No!"  
  
He jerked his shoulder away from her touch. "Go a-a-away!"  
  
"No!"  
  
He looked up at her. His eyes were red and swollen from crying. Tears streaked his cheeks. "I wan-want to be alone."  
  
She gasped. "Are you alright? Why are you crying?"  
  
"I'm *sniffle* not crying."  
  
Rin rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "What do you want to call it? Random leaking of your eyeballs?"  
  
"Sh-hut up." A fresh batch of tears streamed down his face.  
  
"Why can't you ever tell me what's wrong?"  
  
Through his red eyes he glared wetly at her. "Y-y-you *hiccup* want to know what's wrong? E-everything was fi-fine until you got here. You're ba-bad luck and I wi-wi-wish I never met you."  
  
Rin looked like she had been slapped. Her eyes narrowed and her bottom lip quivered. "Well this is the thanks I get for trying to be a good friend." She spun on her heel and left the way she came.  
  
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Kouga sat on his heels, ready to spring into action. He was ready to get whatever Kaede needed to complete the spell. Kagome's absence was ripping him apart. If only he had came right back after he untangled Ayame. Maybe she would never have gotten snatched by that bastard. If only he had stuck by her side. But instead he had been running around the forest with Ayame. He hung his head in shame.  
  
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Sesshomaru finally got his thought under control. He was perfectly calm and emotionless. Just the way he liked it. Then something suddenly jumped into his lap. His eyes snapped open. "I thought you promised you'd leave."  
  
Rin clutched his arms and cried into his chest. "I did! But-but-" She broke off to a fit of tears.  
  
"But?" He prompted.  
  
"But-but-but Shippou yelled at me and I was only trying to help. I found him crying and I wanted to help. I tried to help but he-he yelled at me." She babbled.  
  
"What did he say to you?"  
  
"He said-he said I was bad luck. He said that the bad things started happening when I came. He said that he wished he never met me!" That statement sent more tears down her cheeks.  
  
Sesshomaru pulled her off of him and held her at shoulder length. "Are you mad at him?"  
  
She nodded.  
  
"Why are you crying?"  
  
She hiccupped. "He's my friend."  
  
"Well he obviously wasn't a good one." He said dryly. That only made her wail louder. He suppressed an eye roll. "Since when did you become weak?"  
  
Rin sniffled and wiped her tears. "What?"  
  
"I know that you didn't learn that crying shit from me. If you're so upset with him why don't you go do something about it?"  
  
She held her head high and left. He shook his head and closed his eyes again.  
  
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Rin marched up to Shippou and kicked him in his side. "I hate you." She spun to march away.  
  
Shippou grabbed her ankle, causing her to sprawl forward. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said. It's just that every time I finally have someone that loves me their taken away. My mom, my dad, and now Kagome. I was only upset and I hadn't meant to yell at you. I had been blaming myself and everything I had said to you was what I had been telling myself." He let go of her ankle and sat back against the tree.  
  
Rin got up and sat next to him slowly. She was silent for a while before saying. "Why didn't you tell me?"  
  
He puffed out his chest. "Because I didn't need your help."  
  
"Everyone needs help sometimes."  
  
"Not me."  
  
She rolled her eyes. "Boys."  
  
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Kagome covered her ears. The man next to her was screaming again. Not only did it assault her ears it made her heart ache. That scream was full of pain and she could feel it. She could make out a small figure bent over with his head back. She wondered who it was and what had made him scream like that. Kagome shivered and shook her head. Scratch that, she didn't need to know.  
  
The shouting stopped abruptly, she flopped down on her back. She had been sleeping but she didn't think she was all that tired anymore. It felt like it was really early in the morning like three am. She wondered absently what time it really was. Kagome had lost track of it a while ago. She shook her head, it didn't matter what time it was. At least not anymore.  
  
The door slid back, Kagome's head jerked up. Kanna walked in and set a bowl of noodles in front of her before sitting down. Kagome looked at her suspiciously. What did the little mysterious girl want? Why was she giving her extra food? What is poison?  
  
"Nothing's wrong with, go ahead and eat." Kanna whispered quietly.  
  
Kagome jumped, it was the first time she ever heard her speak(was it? Did she ever talk when Kagome was around? Ah never mind, in this story she hasn't). She had almost began to think she was incapable of speech. Cautiously, she began to eat the noodles. When she was done she set the bowl down.  
  
Kanna was looking around the room absently. "Do you hear them?"  
  
Kagome was quiet for a while. "Why?"  
  
"I hear them now. They say the nastiest things. I think their spirits but I'm not sure." Kanna turned to look her in the eye. "Do you hear them?"  
  
She ignored the question. "Why are you here?"  
  
A flash of sorrow fluttered across her eyes but disappeared quickly. "I don't know why I came. It's just...nice to have something to do with myself."  
  
She crossed her arms. "Did you try sleeping?"  
  
"I don't get much sleep." She said oddly.  
  
"I don't blame you." Kagome remembered just why she was awake. She shivered.  
  
Kanna started looking around the room absently again. "I have to go now." She picked up the bowl and left quietly.  
  
Kagome laid down on the cold stone. That was very strange. There was something going on here but she didn't know what it was.  
  
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Kaede wiped the sweat off her forehead. "It's finished."  
  
"About time." Inuyasha grumbled. "It only took you all fucking day."  
  
Miroku banged his head with his staff. "She worked as fast as she could without damaging the quality of her work."  
  
Kurama nodded in agreement. "She did work swiftly."  
  
Inuyasha rolled his eyes impatiently. "Just tell us where the castle is."  
  
"North about a week's walk." She answered tiredly.  
  
"What are we waiting for, lets get moving." Inuyasha started to get up.  
  
Kurama raised an eyebrow. "This almost seems too easy."  
  
Miroku nodded. "It does."  
  
"Don't jinx it." Sango warned even thought it seemed like she was thinking the same thing.  
  
"Lets. Go." Inuyasha walked out the hut.  
  
Miroku rolled his eyes. "He'll never learn."  
  
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Naraku smiled slightly as he watched them leave the hut through Kanna's mirror. Yes, everything according to plan.  
  
Flamez-Sorry didn't get to proof read this chapter so there might be even more mistakes. 


	16. Nothing but smoke and mirrors

Flamez- *Ducks flying objects* I'm so sorry for the really really late update! I fractured my left pinky two weeks ago and it's really hard to type. Not to mention I had exams this week. But I finally have it ready, I tried to make it long. Yeah there hasn't been a lot of action lately but I can fix that. I'm trying to manage my time correctly, but I still have a lot of catching up to do. *Sigh* Just read the chapter.  
  
Chapter 16-Nothing but smoke and mirrors  
  
"Get the fuck up."  
  
Kagome groaned but pretended to still be asleep. After Kanna left she couldn't fall sleep until about two hours ago. The last thing she wanted to do was wake up anytime soon.  
  
Zitinou growled. "I've been patient long enough. Either you get your lazy ass up or I'll-"  
  
"Or you'll what?" She gurgled sleepily, slinging an arm over her eyes. "Threaten me some more? Go pull the stick out of your ass and leave me alone."  
  
He picked her up by her neck. "I need to train now and I won't let you get in my way."  
  
Kagome blinked at him before closing her eyes again. "By all means don't let me. Just go train by yourself."  
  
"You can only get so good by shadow boxing, I need a partner."  
  
"Then go get one and leave me alone."  
  
"I already have one, you. So wake the fuck up." He shook her until she opened her eyes.  
  
"What, what, what?!" She whined childishly.  
  
"I don't have time for this! I-"  
  
Kagome laughed derisively. "We have plenty of time. Actually probably the rest of our lives to do whatever the hell we want. So why don't you wait for about five more hours. Trust me, it won't kill you."  
  
Zitinou stared at her coldly. "You're right we have the rest of our lives. But how long do we have? Ten years, tens hours, ten minutes? Nothing is certain around here. If you to be another sniveling coward then be my guest." He dropped unceremoniously. She landed with an audible thud. "Just don't drag me to your level, girl." He shook his head. "I thought better of you but I guess I was wrong."  
  
Kagome dragged herself off the stone floor. "You know you are right Zitinou. You were wrong. I am not a sniveling coward. I am sick to death of you thinking about yourself all of the damn time. If you took the time to pull your head out of your ass then maybe you would see that I am TOO FUCKING TIRED TO TRAIN!!!!" She roared, backing up her words with a painful poke in his chest. She calmed down and spoke a little quieter. "If you want a training partner fit for your hyper ass then you better give me five hours you damn asshole." She plopped back on the ground and shut her eyes.  
  
Zitinou breathed out slowly to keep himself from killing her. This wasn't about him. He had a bad feeling lately and he wanted to be prepared for the worst.  
  
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Inuyasha looked down at the trees whizzing by and then at his companion's faces. Miroku and Sango seemed anxious. Kouga, who had Kikyou's arm in a vice grip, was scowling warningly at her. Ayame was looking absently at the passing scenery. Kikyou, Kurama, and Sesshomaru all looked impassive. Rin and Shippou were happily playing keep away with Jaken's hat. Jaken's face was contorted with annoyance as his slipped on Kirara's fur every time he tried to get it back.  
  
Inuyasha's ears pricked forward and back but didn't catch any sound below them. "It's quiet down there, too quiet."  
  
Miroku frowned. "I know."  
  
"Almost like the quiet before the storm." Kurama glanced around.  
  
Sango shushed them. "You shouldn't say those things!"  
  
Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "You shouldn't be so damn superstitious Sango. That shit screws with your mind."  
  
"Oh yeah, so what would you call that?" She pointed over his shoulder  
  
He turned to look at a purplish gray cloud heading toward them. "Ah shit."  
  
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Kagome yawned and stretched. It was the first almost slightly good sleep she had in a while. She winced as her back cracked in several places but sighed when some of the pain ebbed away. Sleeping on stone was not pleasant. She smacked her lips and rubbed the crust out of her eyes. She looked over to her side to see Zitinou staring directly at her. Kagome blinked in surprise. How long had he been there? She got up and clinked over to him. Kagome tapped her foot impatiently for him to speak until she realized that he was sleeping with his eyes open. Cautiously, she crouched down in front of his face. He didn't move a muscle. Kagome waved a hand in from of his face.  
  
Zitinou grabbed her wrist and his eyes snapped open. "We fight now." He stood and twisted her around so he had her in a head lock. She thrashed but couldn't get free.  
  
"No fair I wasn't expecting that!"  
  
"Nothing is fair around here." He let go of her neck and punched in the face. She when flying through five paper walls before her chains ran out. Then she when snapping back in direction she came in. As soon as she came flying back into her room, Zitinou grabbed her chains and punched her in the stomach. She spat out blood onto the cold stone floor. Panting, Kagome clutched her stomach with one hand. She looked up into his smirking face and scowled. So he thought this was funny did he? Soon he won't think this was so amusing.  
  
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Inuyasha stared at the approaching cloud. "What the fuck is that?"  
  
"I don't know." Miroku shook his head.  
  
Kouga snorted. "Whatever it is it obviously isn't good."  
  
"No shit." Inuyasha grumbled sarcastically.  
  
"I think it's moving towards us." Sango pointed out worriedly.  
  
"Again, no shit."  
  
She rolled her eyes. "I *mean* that it's getting closer very quickly."  
  
Kurama gazed at the cloud. "By my calculations it will be upon us in about two minutes."  
  
Inuyasha started to pull out Tetsusaiga. "Whatever it is, I won't let it get in my way."  
  
"What are you going to do? Your sword isn't going to be much help. It's a cloud Inuyasha, use your brain." Kikyou said mockingly.  
  
He snarled at her. "What the fuck am supposed to do?!"  
  
She opened her mouth but the cloud had already reached them. They were engulfed in a thick violet mist that made their bones grow cold. Inuyasha whirled around but he couldn't see anyone. He backed up with his ears pricked forward in alertness. He didn't like this one bit. He couldn't hear, see, or smell anything. Something was definitely wrong.  
  
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Zitinou wrapped his chains around her arms, preparing for another attack. But Kagome took over, she pulled back on his chains for leverage and put her feet on his chest. She kicked his face before crushing his wind pipe with her toes. He tried to head butt her but she dodged by twisting his chains holding her wrists together and flipping so that she was hanging upside down. Kagome thrust her heel into his chin sending him crashing down. She spun to untangle her wrists from his chains and sat on his stomach.  
  
"Huzzah Kagome!" Syeaiki clapped from one of the many holes in his wall.  
  
Kagome stood. "How long have you been there?"  
  
"Oh from the time that you went flying through my wall. You don't know how spacious my room feels with all this pleasant openings."  
  
She winced. "Sorry about that."  
  
He held up a hand and shook his head. "No problem."  
  
"Yo-" Kagome went crashing down to the floor. She sat up and glared at Zitinou. "What was that for?!"  
  
"Lesson number one: don't ever take your attention away from your opponent."  
  
"Ass."  
  
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Inuyasha backed up carefully. He was starting to panic. All his life he had his excellent senses and not until now did he know how desperately dependant he was on them. Without them he was vulnerable and slightly afraid. He suddenly got the creepy feeling that someone was near. He whipped around, holding Tetsusaiga out in front of him. There was a man shaped creature shrouded in a mysterious dark violet mist. Inuyasha couldn't see the creature's face but he could see it move to attack him.  
  
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Miroku stood and gripped his staff until his knuckles turned white. He could sense powerful evil presence. The mist surrounding him reeked of sin, it coated his skin and delved into his every pore. He felt sick to his stomach. Using his staff to help him move, he walked forward carefully. He squinted, it looked like something was coming towards him but he wasn't sure was it was. He held his staff so that he could defend himself quickly if need be. The figure was cloaked by the evil purple veil but Miroku could still make out two legs, two arms and a head. It whirled around as if to attack so Miroku raised his staff to strike it.  
  
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Kagome slurped down her noodles. Her most recent encounter with Kanna was strange to say the least. When the girl bent to place the bowl in front of her she made eye contact with her again. But this time Kagome smelled something strange and she could hear the air whisper again. What it said she didn't know, it was saying more than one thing at once. From the tone she could tell that it was taunting her again. Kanna broke eye contact and left. The strange smell and voices subsided.  
  
Kagome suppressed a shiver at the memory and tried her best to sound cheerful. "You can slow down, your food isn't going anywhere."  
  
Syeaiki looked up from his bowl. His cheeks were puffed out like a chipmunk's. He gulped the mouthful down and smiled widely. "You never know and I for one rather be safe than sorry."  
  
She put down her now empty bowl. "I've been meaning to ask..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"How come no one seems concerned that we leave our rooms? Or about the holes in your wall?"  
  
"Naraku used to care. He even 'graced' us with his presence quite a few times. But lately he's been too busy to come to call upon the likes of us."  
  
"Why? What's he so busy with?"  
  
"Whatever it is it probably won't last long, this kind of thing happens a lot. He gets something new to with play and he'll ignore us for a while."  
  
"And what exactly is Naraku's new favorite toy?"  
  
Syeaiki coughed suddenly and looked away. He didn't speak but she already knew his answer. It was her.  
  
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Sango pulled her hiraikotsu off her back and settled into a fighting stance. "Miroku? Inuyasha?" She called but heard no answer, not even the sound of her own voice. She padded forward with alertness, she couldn't see a thing. She set down her hiraikotsu and put on her mask incase the mist was poisonous. As soon as she had it on she saw a dark silhouette approached. Swiftly she picked her hiraikotsu and spun to drive it into the thing's stomach. But it knocked her down by slamming into her head.  
  
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Ayame stayed seated where she was. She tried to sniff out the others but to no avail. She didn't know exactly what to do and was content to stay exactly where she was. She peered into the swirling mist to see something come towards her. It stopped for a moment. Stealthily and quickly she moved smoothly over to it. The thing whirled around but Ayame got to it first with a kick to its head.  
  
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Kagome smiled and pretended not to know. "Aw was poor Syeaiki left out of the loop?"  
  
He sighed with mock offence. "No one ever tells me anything."  
  
Her smile grew. She could tell that he was happy that she changed the subject. It was not though it seemed that he didn't like telling bad new but that he didn't want her to feel bad. He probably would have told her if he thought she could do anything about it. She knew that she couldn't.  
  
"Gee I wonder why."  
  
"Ouch Kagome. Must you be so harsh?"  
  
She paused as if to think about it. "Yes, yes I must."  
  
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Kouga was pissed. They didn't have time for this. They had to get to Kagome. He gripped Kikyou's arm tighter, as if to make sure she was still there, and peered into the darkness.  
  
Kikyou's lips turned up slightly. "You won't be able to see anything or hear me for that matter." She had to hand it to Naraku, this spell took a lot of power and expertise.  
  
Oblivious to her words, Kouga stepped forward. He thought he saw something and decided he should get a better look. Kikyou took that time to slip her arm from his grip, disappearing behind a veil of mist. Cursing, he stopped to look for her. He turned to see if she was behind him. Something hit him on his head and he went tumbling backwards.  
  
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Kurama glanced around, noting how everyone seemed to disappear. 'What's going on?'  
  
'I've heard about this before but I can't remember what I read about it.'  
  
'That's a load of help.'  
  
'At least I have some knowledge where you have none.'  
  
'Point taken.'  
  
'What's that shadow over there?'  
  
'Where?'  
  
'To your left.'  
  
Kurama turned his head to see a shadowy figure come towards him. 'What is it?'  
  
'I don't know.'  
  
When the figure was a few feet away it turned. As a reflex he struck its head with his elbow. It fell to the ground but recovered quickly by grabbing Kurama's ankle and digging its claws into his flesh. He tried to shake it off but it wouldn't budge. He stepped on the things head, implying a tremendous amount of pressure.  
  
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Kouga gritted his teeth in agony. It felt like his head was splitting in two. He gripped the shadows ankle and yanked so that if fell beside him. The wolf propped himself up and hit the thing in the face. He couldn't hear the actual crunching of the things nose but he could feel it. He could feel the bones splinter under his calloused knuckles. And even though he couldn't smell its blood he could feel it trickle down onto his flesh. He doubled over when the thing kneed him in the stomach repeatedly until he coughed up blood.  
  
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Kagome started playing idly with her empty bowl. "Are you ever sad?"  
  
Syeaiki's cheerful look faltered. "What?"  
  
"Are you ever sad?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I thought my question was pretty straight forward."  
  
"It was just pretty random that's all."  
  
It was silent for a while. "Well...?"  
  
"Well what?"  
  
She threw up her hands in exasperation. "Are you going to answer my question?"  
  
"What question?"  
  
"Are. You. Ever. Sad?" She said slowly.  
  
"What?"  
  
"What do you mean what?"  
  
"I mean that question came from no where."  
  
"Why do I feel like your avoiding the question?"  
  
Syeaiki blinked. "I have to go meditate." He stood and climbed through one of the holes in his wall.  
  
Kagome frowned. "What was that all about?"  
  
"You shouldn't have asked that." Kyo said from behind her.  
  
She turned. "Why not?"  
  
"Didn't it even strike you as odd that he's always so cheerful?"  
  
"I just thought that was how he was."  
  
He shook his head. "That's not the case. When he was brought in, he was hysterical. He was practically foaming at the mouth. Every day he shouted and thrashed. I could fell his energy flare around him. Then one day Naraku paid him a visit and ever since then he's been acting cheerful. Whenever we try to ask him about it, he pretends not to understand the question."  
  
Kagome swallowed, instantly feeling bad for being frustrated with him. What had Naraku told him to make him put up that cheerful façade?  
  
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Inuyasha ignored the sharp pain in his head. He clawed the thing's flesh. It kept trying to dislodge him but he refused to let go. The sharp pain flared when a large amount of pressure was put on it once again. He swung Tetsusaiga in a horizontal crescent, cutting the thing's leg off clean. Something moist and slender wrapped around Inuyasha's throat. It latched into his skin and began to drain the life out of him. He tried to use his claws to pry it off but it was securely fastened to his flesh. His vision was starting to darken and his body temperature began to drop.  
  
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Miroku attacked the shadowy creature viciously. It had severely wounded his leg, he could feel his blood gushing profusely from the injury. He knew he had to defeat the thing quickly before he lost too much blood. He drew symbols in the air rapidly while muttering the ancient runes under his breath. The air around him thickened until it was something solid. The solidified air coiled around the thing and squeezed.  
  
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Kanna glided silently down the hallway. Naraku was pleased with her lately and that was good for her. He called her in less frequently than usual but his face had an extra nastiness to it. He had just informed her, with a nasty smile, that one of their compulsory residents was found to be dispensable. It was one of her most unpleasant jobs. The only thing that got her through it was what Kagura had once told her: "Be grateful it's not you." Being young had its advantages and disadvantages. Having her innocence ripped away at such a young age was one of the causes of her shell like state. She could kill with a hypnotic detachment. She could also block out the looks on their faces when they know they're going to die, erasing it from her memory.  
  
She slid the door open and took the bowl from the man as if were any other day. As soon as she bent to pick it up she pounced on him, pressing her fingers into the pressure points on his neck. His struggles slowly died as more and more blood tainted his mouth. He opened his mouth to scream but all that came out was a splatter of blood. When his movements ceased, she calmly released him and picked up the bowl. She left as quietly as she came. Kanna glided back down the hall, with blood spattered across her alabaster face. At least it wasn't her.  
  
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Kagome stared up at her wooden ceiling. Everything seemed so pointless lately. What was the point waking up when everyday you woke up to this? Kyo, Syeaiki, and even Zitinou helped lift her spirits but that was only temporary. It's been days since she's seen the sun. Every passing day, she sunk deeper and deeper in depression. The emotional roller coaster she was on was taking its toll. Not to mention the headaches she's been getting lately. She learned to hide them from the others but it felt like she was going to die every time she's had one of them. She knew they would ask questions about her most recent one. That one caused her to spit up blood unto the floor. There was something about those headaches she knew wasn't right.  
  
She turned so that she was lying on her side and traced a finger through the droplets of crimson. Kagome felt so empty and confused. Why was Kanna really talking to her for? What did Vaniliy mean? Those two questions seemed to take up all of her time. It was like she was obsessed with finding the answer. But deep down she knew the only reason she was was because she didn't what to think about anything else. Kagome didn't want to think about her friends or what they were doing. She didn't want to think about her most likely worried family. She didn't want to think about being Naraku's 'new toy'. She was drowning in a sea of misery. It's gotten to the point where she didn't care anymore. She didn't care whether she ever woke from sleeping. She wondered if it would be better that way. If she could just die in her sleep.  
  
'The world would be a better place without you.' 'You're friends are glad that you are gone.' 'He's planning you're friend's down fall.' 'He will win, he always does.'  
  
Kagome swiped angrily at the air. "Shut up!" She dragged herself to her knees. "I am so sick of your bullshit!"  
  
The air around her seemed to shift, but not as in movement. It was if it regarded her for a moment and then changed tactics. 'You were right to leave, you were just thinking about everyone's well being. But they're not thinking about you, their off somewhere with out a care in the world.' 'No one gives you the credit you deserve.' 'No one appreciates you but him.' 'He knows your potential.'  
  
She sat back. Yeah, no one appreciated her. She was doing things for everyone else. Did they even bother to come and get her? They were probably off enjoying each other's company, forgetting Kagome ever existed.  
  
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Sango grabbed the thing's leg and twisted until she could feel some bones crack. The thing yanked its leg back and snaked around her chest. It started to crush her ribcage, she could feel each individual rib breaking. Her arms wouldn't move for some reason, she was powerless to stop it. She stomped on its foot and kicked it in its shins but to no avail. An indescribable pain shot through her system as the creature pierced her left shoulder. White flashed across her eyes and her breathes came in short harsh spurts. Sango wondered distantly if she was going to die.  
  
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Ayame had to do something fast. She was losing blood quickly. She threw her arms around the thing's midsection with all of her strength. She held on, feeling bones split little by little. It thrashed but she only tightened her grip. Feeling the need to hurry the process, she snaked her hand up its back and thrust her claws through its flesh.  
  
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Kagome hugged her knees and fumed silently to herself. She was sick of being locked up in here. She was tired of pretending that everything was fine. She didn't feel like seeing the same three people day after day after day. She didn't want to eat that slop they called food ever again. Her back ached from sleeping on the cold hard stone floor. Her wrists and ankles chaffed from the tight shackles around them. Her stomached growled at the lack of food. Her eyes were red from lack of sleep. Her joints were sore from being constantly pulled down by the weight of their chains. She didn't deserve to be here.  
  
"Are you ok, Kagome?" Syeaiki asked from the hole in the wall.  
  
"I'm fine." She ground out, not turning to look at him.  
  
"Are you sure? You can tell me you know."  
  
"Go away."  
  
"Bu-"  
  
"GO AWAY!" She turned to glare at him over her shoulder. She bared her fangs in warning while growing deep in her throat. He looked taken aback but said nothing. Quietly retreating, Syeaiki mused silently to himself. He would have to discuss this with Kyo immediately.  
  
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Kouga grabbed its foot and snapped it back, breaking its ankle. He quickly got to his feet and burrowed his hand into its stomach. Its blood ran freely down his arm and pooled at his feet. Suddenly his wind was knocked out of him. He wheezed, wondering if he had a punctured lung. He tried to throw it off but it wouldn't let go. Then an excruciating pain bloomed in his chest. Liquid fire raced through his body while he wondered dimly if he would survive.  
  
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Kikyou retreated from the danger slowly and discreetly. Those idiots had no idea what they were in. The whole time they though they were fighting some monster when they were really fighting each other.  
  
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Kurama bit the inside of his cheek, coppery blood gushed into his mouth. He ignored the pain, pulling a seed out of his pocket. In moments it grew into thick twisting vines, curling around his fingers. The vines wound around the creature, drawing the life from its victim. The more power it took the stronger the plant grew. It would only be a matter of time before the vine sucked the creature dry.  
  
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Syeaiki rolled his shoulders, having chains weighing you down did nothing for your back. "The reason why I'm here is that we need to talk about Kagome."  
  
Kyo raised an eyebrow. "Why would we need to do that?"  
  
"She's been acting strangely. She just yelled at me for asking what was wrong."  
  
Zitinou rolled his eyes. "There's a name for that, its called PMS."  
  
"Oh yeah, does PMS mean your eyes randomly turn red?"  
  
"Her eyes turned red?" Kyo asked distraughtly.  
  
"Yeah but only for a moment."  
  
He shook his head sadly. "We've lost her."  
  
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Kagome rocked, musing to herself. Syeaiki though he was so sly. He didn't care about her. He wanted something. She couldn't trust him, he was too friendly. Way too friendly. They all want something, all three of them. Yeah well whatever it was they weren't going to get it. Everyone always wanted something from her. Everyone always tried to use her. Well not anymore. She wasn't going to stand for this.  
  
'That's right, they are not to be trusted.' 'They're probably plotting against you.' 'You mustn't let them get what they want.'  
  
Kagome nodded affirmatively. She must not let them get what they want.  
  
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Kurama could feel the thing's life draining. 'Won't be long now.'  
  
'I have a bad feeling about this.'  
  
'Why?'  
  
'It has something to do with this spell. Why can't I remember what it does?'  
  
'Maybe the spell doesn't want you to remember.'  
  
'Stop breathing.'  
  
'What?'  
  
'I need you to close your eyes and stop breathing. Just trust me.'  
  
Kurama, though skeptical, closed his eyes and held his breath. 'What does this have to do with anything?'  
  
'The less contact with a spell the better.' Youko was silent for a while. 'Stop draining the thing's life.'  
  
Kurama complied quickly. 'What's going on?'  
  
'Take the dried leaves out of the bag the old woman gave you then crush it in your hand. After that you can breathe and look around.'  
  
Kurama crumbled the leaves in his fist and opened his hand. Slowly the air around him began to clear. Like a fan to smoke. The violet mist retreated away from his vision, sweeping back from the thing that he attacked. Soon he would know who he had been fighting.  
  
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Zitinou frowned. "What do you mean?"  
  
Kyo sighed. "I have never told you this but there is a curse in the air. It exposes your doubts and fears. It tries to muddle your mind so that you become dependant on the voices. That's why I mediate so much, I'm cleansing the air."  
  
"Well obviously you didn't do it well enough." Zitinou complained.  
  
Syeaiki shook his head. "I have a feeling that whatever it is Kyo's talking about is paying special attention to her."  
  
"I think he's making this stuff up." Zitinou accused. "I've never hear any voices."  
  
Kyo raised an eyebrow. "Maybe you just don't remember."  
  
"I think I would remember if I was hearing voices."  
  
"Believe me, you wouldn't remember if Naraku didn't want you to."  
  
"That doesn't make any sense. Why would he want me to forget?"  
  
"So we couldn't warn Kagome not to listen."  
  
"If Naraku supposedly made us forget, why do you remember?"  
  
"I had been suspecting that he had been tampering with my memories. I began writing logs of what I had been doing at what time."  
  
Syeaiki looked around. "Where? I don't see anything written."  
  
"I can't tell you that, Naraku would surely find out."  
  
"What are we going to do about Kagome?" Syeaiki asked.  
  
"There's nothing we can do now." Kyo replied bleakly.  
  
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Inuyasha felt his energy come back to him sluggishly as the pressure around his throat ceased. He sputtered and coughed, almost choking as the air rushed into his lungs. His vision began to lighten but he could still see spots. Then, like a miracle, the mist around him parted. Inuyasha looked around until he could make out the shrouded figure he had been fighting all this time.  
  
Kurama stood there on his one leg, his other one lying several feet away. "So it was you all along."  
  
Inuyasha pulled the limp vines from around his neck. "If I was fighting you the whole time, where is everyone else?"  
  
They looked out at the retreating mist, hoping everyone was still in one piece.  
  
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Zitinou's nostrils flared. "There has to be something!"  
  
Kyo cut his eyes. "What do you suggest then?"  
  
"I don't know, you're the one with all the plans."  
  
"Obviously I'm not since I don't have one."  
  
"What good are you?"  
  
Kyo's lips pulled back from his fangs, practically frothing at the mouth. His eyes grew cold, hard, and distant. The air around them sparked with his anger. "Don't fucking ask me what good I am! When I get my claws into your flesh, I'll skin you alive you damn bastard! You sick bastard!" He clawed at the air viciously foam running down his chin. His movements began to slow as he started to calm down. He panted and blinked as if just realizing where he was. He ran his shaking hand through his white locks. "Sorry. I don't know what came over me. It was like I heard that before, déjà vu. I don't remember what happened exactly what happened but I just flipped when you said that."  
  
Zitinou stared at him as if seeing him in a different light. "Maybe Naraku is fucking with our minds."  
  
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Sango gasped, cold air went rushing into her bruised lungs. She thought she was going insane when the air around her began to clear of the violet darkness. Dimly, she stared at the thing that was buried in her shoulder. Sango started to make out a pole like object. She followed it up to a pale hand, arm, and to Miroku's color drained face.  
  
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Sesshomaru watched the cloud drift away. He had stayed put the whole time, keeping a firm hand on Rin. She looked up at him with wide eyes. "What just happened?"  
  
"It was a spell of probably of Naraku's doing."  
  
Rin nodded slowly. She started to look around. "Where's Shippou?"  
  
Sesshomaru glanced around before flicking his golden eyes downward at the forest below them. Rin let out a wail before scrambling to the edge Kirara's torso. He didn't fall, did he?  
  
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Ayame cracked open her eyes as everything around her brightened. Her pain was so great she couldn't move. Slowly she looked down at the gaping hole in her stomach and dimly noted all the blood pooled at her feet. She stared at her arm that impaled her opponent's flesh. She knew that she had lost a lot of blood and would have to take time to heal. But right now that didn't matter. Her heart had sunk to the pit of her stomach. She could smell Kouga's blood on her arm.  
  
Slowly she stared up at his face. "I'm so sorry." She blacked out with her arm still inside his shoulder.  
  
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Zitinou sat in his room, brooding over the past conversation. Naraku had ruined his entire life. He remembered the day like it was yesterday. Him, being a weather demon, was fighting over territory. Too many weather demons in one area is always a bad thing, so there tends to be a lot of blood shed over land. Zitinou and his clan, five or so friends, were going to war with another clan that kept scouring the edge of their land. He had told his mate not to go but she wouldn't listen. It was going well, they were just about to win, until a man appeared out of almost nowhere. He smiled while he killed his friends. When he turned to Zitinou and said that he was worth keeping. After he told him where he could stick it, Naraku's smile widened. He took his mate's neck, looked him in the eye, and asked again. His mate told him not to care about her, but he couldn't let Naraku kill her. Seeing Zitinou's indecision, he informed him that he just poisoned her and if he didn't come with him she would die. It was true, he could smell the poison in her blood.  
  
That's how he ended up here. And the worst part of all was that he put her right above him. Zitinou tried to break into her room but Naraku had put wards on it. His body reacted violently, retching and excessive bleeding. But he still tried everyday for five years to get to his mate. She was still poisoned, he could sense it. Kanna brought her enough antidote to keep her just before death. There were times when Zitinou shook and sweated out of nowhere because of it of poison. He would get stronger, he would reunite with his mate, then there'd be hell to pay.  
  
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Inuyasha looked around the scene in disbelief. It was an out of body experience, like people were impersonating his friends. It felt so unreal. Slowly the numbness wore off and it began to sink in.  
  
Kurama stepped forward. "We have to see to their wounds quickly."  
  
Inuyasha nodded, feeling disconnected. "Yeah."  
  
He glanced at him. "Are you feeling okay?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
They walked slowly over to Ayame and Kouga who were the most injured. Kouga was staring at his arm in shock. Ayame was slumped against him, unconscious from loss of blood. Gently, Kurama pulled them apart, ignoring the blood that flowed freely from their wounds.  
  
Kurama glanced over his shoulder. "Go to Sango and Miroku and get Kirara to land in the closest clearing." He began seeing to Ayame's wounds.  
  
Inuyasha nodded and walked over to them. They were resting on one another, panting and murmuring their apologies. He felt awkward for intruding but he knew they needed medical attention. "How bad are you two hurt?"  
  
Miroku lifted his forehead. "I'm fine over looking a few broken bones in my leg. I think I broke every bone in Sango's ribcage though." He looked so sorry when he said the last part.  
  
"It's nothing that hasn't happened to me before." Sango tired to smile but it ended up as a painful wince.  
  
"Go see Kurama while I go get Kirara to land." Inuyasha shuffled away, trying not to move his injured neck.  
  
Miroku stood straight, grimacing when he accidentally put some weight on his bad leg. Biting the inside of his cheek, he offered a hand to Sango. She took it and pulled her self cautiously up. He wanted to help her even more but he knew she would want to do this on her own. He felt lower than dirt right then. How could he be so easily fooled? He felt like such a dumbass.  
  
Kurama finished bandaging Kouga's shoulder when Miroku and Sango finally reached him. He looked up at them. "How badly are you wounded?"  
  
"Just a few broken bones." They said at the same time. They smiled weakly at each other.  
  
"It can wait." Sango added.  
  
Getting the message, Kurama sat back on his heels and explained. "The spell was definitely Miroku's doing. It's called Veil of Deception. It is supposed to stifle the senses so you can't see, hear, or smell. It makes you believe you're in danger when your not, it even stamps out your own common sense. Usually, it's used to turn a friend against friend."  
  
"Kind of like now." Miroku muttered.  
  
Kurama nodded. "Naraku knows we're coming."  
  
"He planned it." Sesshomaru stated insipidly. "Honestly, do you think it would be that easy to find his castle if he didn't want us to."  
  
Kouga sat up but winced and laid back down. "He's probably just trying to buy more time."  
  
Miroku looked bleak. "But for what is the question."  
  
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Kanna slipped into Kagome's room silently. She set the bowl in front of her and sat down. There was something different about Kagome today. The voices must have gotten to her. She had thought this would happen. The voices had a very strong presence in this room. Kagome stared at the bowl then at Kanna. She supposed Kanna was the only one here that wanted nothing from her. She knew what it was like to be used. She would never do it to her. Kagome took the bowl and slurped down the noodles hungrily.  
  
"I killed a man today." Kanna whispered randomly.  
  
Kagome almost choked. Sure, Kanna was under Naraku's control, but she never imaged her actually killing someone. "Really?"  
  
She nodded faintly. "Yes."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Naraku told me to."  
  
"You do everything he tells you?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"What else is there?"  
  
Kagome thought about it for a moment, swallowing down another forkful of noodles. "What you feel like doing."  
  
"I don't know what I want to do."  
  
"What do you mean you don't know? You have to know."  
  
Kanna shook her head.  
  
"Did you want to kill that man?"  
  
She mulled it over. "No..I suppose I didn't."  
  
"See, you know."  
  
"It doesn't matter what I want to do anyway. What Naraku wants is what's important."  
  
"What makes you think that?"  
  
"He told me so."  
  
"And you believed him?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Do believe everything he tells you?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Then why do you believe that?"  
  
"Because here it is better to just go along with things."  
  
"Why? What would he do to you?"  
  
Kanna look distant. "I don't think I want to remember."  
  
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Kirara landed gently on the wide expanse of smooth stone. Rin leaped off frantically. "We have to find Shippou." She tugged on Sesshomaru's hand. "Sesshy-sama, please, help me find him. Please."  
  
He sighed. "Alright, you go that way and I'll go this way." Sesshomaru walked through the trees, shaking his head. He didn't know why Rin liked that boy so much. He pushed back a wayward branch and was greeted with the faint stench of recent death. Shippou's body laid in an awkward position, reinforcing the idea that he fell. Rin would probably cry for days off this. Great. There was only one thing to do. He pulled out Tensaiga and shook his head again. The things he did for her.  
  
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"I won't press it then." Kagome said, not sure if she wanted to know anymore anyway.  
  
"Have you ever killed anyone?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Did you ever enjoy it?"  
  
"No, it was always for self defense."  
  
"I've killed a lot of people."  
  
"Do you regret it?"  
  
Kanna looked off to the side. "I can't say I felt sorry, I just wished I didn't have to do it."  
  
"Do y-"  
  
A sorrowful wail rose in the room next to her. The sound of it made her shiver. It seemed even more wretched than before. Fixated, Kagome stood and padded over to the wall. She reached to tear away the paper that kept her separated from the anonymous screamer. Like a flash, Kanna appeared in front of her and held up her mirror. It happened to quickly. Kagome could feel a tugging at her soul. Then blankness.  
  
Kanna hung her head. "Sorry." She hadn't wanted to do it, at least not then but she couldn't let her get into that room.  
  
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Sesshomaru walked back into the clearing. "I found the child."  
  
Rin jumped on Shippou. "You made me worried!"  
  
Shippou shook her off. "I'm okay."  
  
Kurama looked up from his bowl. "I'm making an ointment to help them heal faster but it will still take about three days."  
  
"Will be well enough to travel?" Kouga asked.  
  
"Yes but-"  
  
"Then what are we waiting for?"  
  
"Naraku will probably just send something else along our away. I'm afraid we'll have to continue this journey on foot."  
  
Inuyasha cursed. "It will take us even longer to get there. Damn him!"  
  
"We can still travel on Kirara's back but it will be difficult to maneuver in this forest." Sango said.  
  
"I know a clear path we can use." Kurama said.  
  
Miroku frowned. "What I want to know is is how we didn't fall off of Kirara's back?"  
  
"It's simple really, it's your basic sense. When you sleep, do you roll off your mat?" Kikyou asked as if he was being completely idiotic.  
  
He cut his eyes at her but kept his mouth shut. Kouga rolled his eyes. "If we're done asking questions, I think we should go."  
  
Inuyasha looked at Sango. "Is Kirara up to it?"  
  
She nodded. "She wasn't affected by Naraku's spell."  
  
"I guess we leave now then."  
  
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Naraku smiled. "You trapped her will already?"  
  
Kanna nodded. "Yes."  
  
He took Kagome's chin in his cold fingers. She stared blankly at him, her eyes were a distant blood red. His smile widened. "That's all, Kanna, you may leave." Kanna slipped out silently, telling herself over and over again be glad it wasn't her but this time it didn't seem right.  
  
Naraku studied Kagome's face. "Who do you obey, Kagome?"  
  
"You, Naraku-sama."  
  
"Good, very good."  
  
Flamez- Aw damn, look what happened. 


	17. The beginning of the end

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha but I do own a potty mouth that I'm damn proud of!! (though I shouldn't be)

Flamez-Winches I've been involved in one thing after another and I've just been way too busy. So no, I'm not trying to get more reviews, I'm not trying to be evil, and I didn't fall into the toilet(...). Cries Someone help me. My mom is insane and is holding the computer hostage! AND on top of that I have to study for end-of-the-year exams, I have 2 papers to write, a project/presentation, clean my room (aka warzone), dust, vacuum, and still try to manage to get at least 2 hours of sleep. School is the devil!! The bane of my existence! But otherwise, no I have no excuse not to update eye twitch.

Rereads last chapter Sorry about the name mix up, I was out of it that day. How did I mess the fight scenes up? I don't see what you're talking about, please do explain. Am I really that mean to Inuyasha? Wait, don't answer that.

Clears throat As I said in the beginning of my story, constructive criticism (keyword being constructive, you might want to look it up) is always welcome but flames are unwanted. I'm sorry if the characters are OOC (I'm not apologizing to you because you don't deserve it, I'm apologizing my other readers) but the manner in which you expressed your opinion is uncalled for. How dare you call my readers "fagets"? Just who do you think you are? That is a derogatory term that only ignorant people would use. (Even though I may have a dirty mouth I have my limits). It only shows that you are disrespectful and immature. If all you wanted to do was say that you didn't like my story that's fine, just don't read it. I really can careless. But you shouldn't put down people because they like my story. What were you trying to achieve by saying that? Take your comment and shove it back up your ass where it came from. You only make yourself look bad by saying that, not me. I take time out of my day to write because it's what I love to do, I shouldn't have to suffer people who spit upon my work.

....Smiles and completely breaks my serious look Wow my first actual flame (though not competent). I guess I'm moving on up if someone who hates my story took the time out of their day to tell me. Wow. I feel pretty damn special.

Chapter 17-The beginning of the end

Naraku ran his hand through her hair. "I brought you here for good reason, I was saving your life." He twisted a silver tendril around his finger. "Your friends were plotting against you. They were going to kill you."

Kagome's eyebrows furrowed. "Why did they want to kill me, Naraku-sama?"

"Because they were jealous of your talents. I told you before, you are exquisite. You are perfect, and they all wished they were too. So they secretly planned your murder for weeks."

She shook her head. "I should have known, Naraku-sama."

He patted her head. "Don't blame yourself, Kagome. Your friends are the ones you would least expect to want you dead. This kind of betrayal should not go unpunished."

"What do you want me to do, Naraku-sama?"

"You don't have to keep saying that at the end of every sentence, it's too repetitive." Naraku tilted his head and smiled. "I want you to kill them all, every one of your treacherous friends."

She nodded. "Yes, I will kill every one of them."

---------------------------

Syeaiki yawned and sat up. After cracking his back, he stood. He glanced up in surprise. "Zitinou?!"

The grumpy weather demon stuck his head through a hole in the ceiling. "What do you want?"

"Did you tear all these holes in my wall?"

Zitinou looked at the destroyed paper. "No."

"Well I didn't do it."

"Then who did?"

"Maybe there's someone new next to you."

Syeaiki popped his head into the next room. "No one is there."

"Then you must have done it."

He rubbed his head. "I don't remember doing that."

Zitinou dropped, landing on his feet. He walked over to the holes and sniffed. "Smells like a female." He turned and raised an eyebrow. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Syeaiki held up his hands. "No, no, no! If I did I sure remember."

He shrugged. "Well then I have no more suggestions. Go ask Kyo."

"Kyo!"

A few seconds later he floated down gracefully from the ceiling. "What?"

"Did you tear all these holes in my wall?"

"No." Kyo looked bemused. "There's something we're supposed to remember."

Zitinou rolled his eyes and pointed to the holes. "Yeah, how the hell that happened."

"No, I mean like a person. We're forgetting someone."

Syeaiki looked confused. "How could we all forget someone?"

Kyo tilted his head. "Do I really have to answer that question?"

---------------------------

Kurama bit the inside of his cheek as he completed the last stitch. He did some spells for quick healing and a ward against infection.

Sango wrinkled her nose. "Why are you putting a dead limb back on?"

He inspected his newly reattached leg. "Because I'll need it."

"Isn't that unhealthy? I mean I heard of stitches for gashes but that's insane."

"But it works." Miroku commented from behind them. "I've seen it done before."

Sango still looked disbelieving. "If you say so........"

He rolled his eyes. "You've got to start b-" Miroku fell to his knees, clutching his chest in pain. Sweat gathered at his brow as he gasped desperately for air.

Sango knelt hurriedly at his side. "What's wrong?"

He smiled weakly. "N-nothing I'm fine." Miroku looked at the passing scenery, signifying the end of the conversation.

---------------------------

(Story's going slow so we'll just fastforward about a week)

Kanna glided down the hall quickly. It was the time she had been dreading ever since she laid eyes on him. A part of her knew not to get so attached but she had needed him. She needed someone to get lost in. Someone that made her forget everything, if only for a moment. She slid back the door to Kagome's old room and stepped in. Kanna had gotten attached to Kagome, too. She made her feel confused, open, regretful. When Kanna spoke with her, she felt more like a living thing and not like a drone or a puppet.

Kanna looked around. The room was exactly how she remembered it. Her eyes ran over the holes in the left wall and the blood stains on the ground. She shook her head, she had a job to do. She walked over to the right wall and tore a hole with her fingernail. Carefully, she stepped through. She looked around the room until her eyes settled on its inhabitant.

"You'll be seeing your sister soon, Kohaku."

---------------------------

Inuyasha peered over Kirara's head at Naraku's castle. It was an imposing building. It was framed in purplish looking wood and stones that reeked of death and disease. Just looking at it made his temperature drop. He looked over his shoulder as Kirara slowly landed inside the gate. Everyone was staring with haunted shadows dancing behind their tired eyes. He shivered and leaped off of the Kirara's back.

Miroku was right behind him with his eyes shifting suspiciously. "I don't feel good about this."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "What did you expect? Besides there's no turning back now."

"I wouldn't dream of it." He muttered as the others slid down next to them. They formed a tight circle with their backs to each other. They stood there for a good while, watching and waiting.

Kouga growled. "Why doesn't he just show himself!"

Sango hushed him. "I think he's getting ready."

"For what?"

"For this." Answered Kagura from the shackled roof.

She opened her fan and covered her mouth as she laughed. The walls of the castle began to shake then the vibration spread to the ground underneath their feet until they could feel it in their bones. The front wall blasted off, showering them with wood splinters and fragments of stone. A demon emerged floating from the darkness with the air whipping around him. His white hair snaked through the air while his dull red eyes fixated straight ahead. Flanking him were two other demons. One was short with spiked blue hair. A stormy gray cloud formed above his head cracking with angry electricity. The other was tall with orange hair. White flames spiraled around his body, licking up his torso. They both had red eyes and they both pulsed with pure power.

Naraku materialized a little behind him with Kanna by his side. "I see you made it."

Inuyasha's lips pulled back to bare his fangs. "Where the fuck is Kagome?!"

"I'm right here." Kagome slinked over to Naraku's side.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha moved forward.

She laughed coldly, hollowly. "Don't come near me."

Naraku slipped his arm around her lower back and pulled her to him. He closed his eyes as he took in her scent. "She's finally seen you for the mutt you are." Inuyasha growled and pulled out Tetsusaiga.

Kagome gazed up at him. "Should I take care of them now?"

"That would be perfect. Its time you get your revenge."

She smiled at him before disappearing. Everyone looked around, trying to find where she had went. Suddenly she appeared from out of nowhere in front of Inuyasha before delivering a crushing blow to his nose. Inuyasha stumbled backwards, when he regained his balance he dodged Kagome's kick to his head. He skidded a few feet before springing away from another one of Kagome's attacks. Inuyasha wasn't sure of what he should do. He didn't want to hit her but he couldn't dodge forever. Kagome came after him with a vengeance, slashing, punching, kicking, and hacking. Every time she didn't make contact she simply pivoted and tried again. She was relentless. She was powerful. She was possessed.

Suddenly Kagome ceased her assault. Her silver hair flared out around her and slithered around Inuyasha like deadly snakes. Her silky tendrils sliced into his skin, drawing blood. Inuyasha slashed her tresses from his flesh but there was too much of it. Her hair engulfed him in a deadly cocoon. The tendrils forced entry by his mouth, attacking him from within. They were like tiny knives slicing at his internal organs. Pain raced through him like liquid fire. Inuyasha could feel his blood welling up in his throat and spilling out over his chin. Kagome laughed with such wickedness it appeared as thought the sound came straight from the deepest bowels of hell. She was enjoying the feeling of his agony and Naraku laughed softly with her because he knew it. He knew it because he had made it so. He made her heart as black as his and he was loving every minute of it.

Hearing Naraku's subtle smug laughter made Inuyasha's blood boil. That bastard was source of every bad occurrence in his entire life. Desperation and bile bloomed in chest like a dangerous poison. The emotions ran rampant, outweighing his pain and reserve. His body began to heal itself rapidly and efficiently. He could feel himself grow stronger, more alert. His claws grew long and jagged. His blood washed over his eyes, tainting his mind. He was full demon. With the muscles in his throat he pushed the offending hair out of his body. Inuyasha slashed angrily at the blood soaked tendrils, taking some joy out of seeing them in shreds but that still left his blood lust unfulfilled. His crimson eyes locked with Naraku's as if to say 'I'm coming for you'. He made his way over to him with the instinct to mutilate humming in his veins.

Kagome appeared in front of him. "Where the hell are you going?"

Inuyasha suppressed the urge to reduce her to minute bits. "Out of my way." His voice had the undertones of uncontained evil. His need to draw blood drummed from deep within him and it began to tear him apart from inside.

"Over my dead body." She leaped at him with her face twisted in the worst kind of viciousness. Her hand sunk into his chest and her tapered fingers began wrapping themselves around his throbbing heart. Inuyasha punched her in the face, feeling her nose collapse under his fist. Releasing his organ, Kagome went flying backwards before skidding to a halt. She wiped her shattered nose with her already bloody hand and stared as if she was transfixed. Kagome wiped it off on her shirt before her eyes locked with his. If Inuyasha had been his normal self he would have noticed some the hollowness in her dull red orbs flinted away for a second. But the moment came and went and now she wouldn't stop until all his blood was drained from his body.

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(Guess you're wondering what everyone else was doing then, hm?)

"That would be perfect. Its time you get your revenge."

She smiled at him before disappearing. Everyone looked around, trying to find where she had went. Suddenly she appeared from no where in front of Inuyasha before delivering a crushing blow to his nose. They watched in horror while Kagome attacked Inuyasha with a vengeance.

Sango loosened the straps on her hiraikotsu and moved forward. "We've got to stop her."

Kurama held her back. "No."

She struggled against his hold. "She's going to kill him if this goes on any further."

"You'll just get in the way."

"I know that you don't care about them so you don't understand-"

Naraku interrupted. "He's right, you will just get in the way. I'll just have to insure that that doesn't happen."

Kyo, Zitinou, and Syeaiki leaped into action, each selecting someone to attack as if they were programmed to do so. Zitinou headed straight for Kurama, the crackling cloud above him unfurled to release a torrent of ice on top of him. Kurama ran, trying to dodge the pelting hail that was bruising his skin. He eyed the cloud above his head and then the demon controlling it. After much calculation he couldn't find a single weakness for him to exploit so he decided to stand and fight. He pulled out a plant he knew that flourished in cold weather. With the help of his spirit energy, it took root and grew to amazing heights. It resembled an evergreen with energy wiping around it imposingly. It's branches grew out trying to impale Zitinou on their twining boughs. He eluded them with some difficulty because of their shear quantity. His personal storm cloud stopped pouring ice long enough to send a lightning bolt strong enough to reduce the tree to ashes. Kurama blinked. Okay, well that didn't work. The onslaught of hail kicked up again but this time they were as big as bowling balls. Every time they struck the ground the earth shook making everyone tremble with it. Kurama evaded the first few but it grew more and more difficult to get around them. He needed to come up with a plan quickly. While running he glanced around to size up his surroundings. His large green eyes caught sight of the castle and he wondered if it would work. Well, he might as well try it. He made a brake for the shadows of the unlikely refuge. Once inside, Kurama slid down the wood floors while he allowed a seed to roll out of his palm.

"Did you honestly think that would work?" Zitinou's voice came from some distant hall.

Kurama kept running, trying to navigate his way through the labyrinth of corridors. He needed to stall until the plant took root but his steps grew more laborious. He's newly mended leg was starting protest to the over exertion. Thunder boomed, rattling the flimsy paper walls until the force breached them. The ground beneath his traveling feet split, trying to take him down deep within the earth. He fell into the crack but he managed to pull himself up onto the floor. Once he was back securely on the ground, he took off again. He was even slower this time, a slight limp was hindering his speed. A second boom of thunder echoed down the halls. The ceiling bowed out until it burst sending large pieces of stone crashing down on Kurama's head. He bit his lip when a chunk of stone landed on his injured leg pinning him to the ground. Syeaiki jumped down from the crumbling ceiling and advanced on him with a hand of crackling lightning.

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"I know that you don't care about them so you don't understand-"

Naraku interrupted. "He's right, you will just get in the way. I'll just have to insure that that doesn't happen."

Kyo, Zitinou, and Syeaiki leaped into action, each selecting someone to attack as if they were programmed to do so. Kyo slowed down the molecules in the air until everyone appeared to be standing still. He could only do it for a few seconds so he moved quickly, selecting a girl with red hair to pick off first. Kouga's nose twitched, he could catch the scent of something moving rapidly his direction. It slammed into Ayame, knocking her down and making her skid for a few feet. Kouga's lips peeled back in a snarl, baring his pearly deadly fangs. He grabbed Kyo by the back of his neck and hurled him deep into the ground. He jumped down in the crater he just created and smashed his fist into Kyo's ribcage until they cracked under the pressure. Suddenly an invisible force knocked into his chest forcing the air from his lungs. Kouga gasped, desperately trying to fill them again in vain. No matter how much he tried his body refused to breathe. The edges of his lips started to turn a purplish blue and he began to grow cold.

Ayame elbowed Kyo in the back of his neck, breaking his concentration. Air came rushing back into Kouga's lungs causing his body to shake in mild shock. Kyo turned his eyes to Ayame who began to shake violently as he tried to extract the oxygen from her blood. Kouga leaped at him but he was still too weak to do any damage. Kyo slid his cool eyes over to him, lifting the wolf high into the air. Then he sent him crashing back down towards the earth at a neck breaking speed. When Kouga made contact several of his bones shattered from the force. The pain made him gasp and violently empty the contents of his stomach onto the dirt. Ayame, throwing caution to the wind, jumped onto Kyo's back and began to thump him on his head. She was trying desperately to break his concentration but he seemed keen on torturing Kouga. She could tell by his posture and by his whole demeanor that he was capable of the most heinous things. Finally she lowered herself to the crudest thing that she could think of, poking him in the eye. That seemed to do the trick because he instantly became aware of her and was no longer interested in Kouga. That could have been a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it.

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Naraku interrupted. "He's right, you will just get in the way. I'll just have to insure that that doesn't happen."

Kyo, Zitinou, and Syeaiki leaped into action, each selecting someone to attack as if they were programmed to do so. Syeaiki bore down on the group with a column of flames as his own personal armor. The sand beneath him turned to glass from the inferno's heat. The demon gathered handfuls of the blaze into his palms and hurtled them at the monk. Miroku twirled his staff in front of him, deflecting the fire balls. Syeaiki's fire column left him and surrounded Miroku. He instantly broke out into a sweat, the heat was making it difficult to breathe. Quickly, he drew ancient runes in the air with the end of his staff and muttered an incantation under his breath. The heat became bearable and Miroku's mind was now clear enough to think. Fire needed air but maybe in this case, it needed spirit energy. But how could he stop Syeaiki's spirit energy from getting to his fire?

Syeaiki walked through the blazing wall with ease. He smiled at Miroku. "Do you really think those silly spells will stop me?"

Fire swirled around his fists, and he swiped at the air. The runes shattered like glass. The heat started to char Miroku's clothing. He quickly poured the blessed water he kept on his hip onto his body. It was only enough to soak his head and his torso but that would have to do. He trust his staff in front of him as if that would keep the flames away. Syeaiki bore down on him with his fiery punches. The fire on his knuckles sizzled and went out on contact. The demon looked at his hand and then at Miroku.

Syeaiki's lip twitched. "Blessed water won't save you for long."

Miroku jumped back from him, his face grim with determination. He needed something to take his spirit energy away from him or at least weaken it......He rolled his eyes, of course. Why didn't he just see it before? He took a step forward, plan unfurling in his mind.

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Naraku interrupted. "He's right, you will just get in the way. I'll just have to insure that that doesn't happen."

Kyo, Zitinou, and Syeaiki leaped into action, each selecting someone to attack as if they were programmed to do so. Sango watched as they fought their designated people with a deadly accuracy. She clutched her hiraikotsu, wondering who to help out. A flare of heat beside her made up her mind. She made her way over to Miroku who was barely holding his own.

Naraku tutted. "Now what did I just say about getting in the way? Besides I have someone special reserved for you." A figure trudged out of the shadows and took his place beside him. "Go say hello to your sister, Kohaku."

The boy streaked toward her with his weapon raised for the kill. Sango barely got her hiraikotsu up in time to block before he jumped back and attacked again. It was funny in a sort of twisted way. She knew every move he was going to make before he even made it. It was the pattern dance she taught him when they were younger except something was different about it and it was throwing her off. She stumbled and sweat seeped out of her pores. Her body knew before her mind that this time was different than all the others. This time she would probably have to kill him before he killed her.

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Power rippled down her in waves and her hate become unbearable. "Die you treacherous bastard!!" Kagome's shouts turned into a primal roar when the intensity of her bitterness turned her into a full demon. She pulled two daggers from her boots and lunged for him. One dagger penetrated his right upper thigh and the other struck right above his pelvic bone. Kagome immediately pulled them out while she fell on top of Inuyasha. He landed on his back as his blood exited his wounds. Her nostrils flared as they took in the scent of his blood and she was instantly hooked. More blood, cried a dark corner of her mind, more pain. He needs to suffer for what he's done. He deserves to be killed and you are the one who deserves to do it. More blood, more pain. Suffer, he must suffer. It was such an adrenalin high she had to draw more blood just to keep the feeling going. She needed to release her anger before it scorched her insides.

Inuyasha growled. "You're the one who's guilty of treason. You stupid bitch." He was tired of her bitching all the damn time. All she ever did was whine and get everyone into deep shit. Kill her. Kill the bitch. Take her life. Kill. Kill. Kill the bitch. His bloody eyes grew crazed right before he flipped over so Kagome was now on her back. He held her hands above her head with one hand and kept them in place by pining them to the ground with his long jagged claws. With his other hand he traced lines on her face with his sharp claw, leaving streaks of crimson on her porcelain skin. He didn't know which of her features to carve off first. Eyes? Ears? Nose? Choices, choices. Inuyasha dragged his claw over to her mouth and sliced a deep outline around her lips. Kagome opened her mouth and bit down hard on his finger, cracking the bone. He growled and pushed her head down harshly, cracking the ground. Fuck it, smash her skull in. Smash it in. Kill her. Kill. Kill. Bitch. Kill. He grabbed her legs and stood, holding her upside down. Then he lifted her high and slammed her head into the earth repeatedly causing a crater to form with every strike.

Kagome swung upwards, crashing her bruised skull into his. Inuyasha dropped her instantly. She grabbed his ankle, bringing him down with her. Sneering with self satisfaction, she dug her claws into his furry ear and ripped it clean off his head. She examined it with little interest before flicking it over her shoulder. He growled, clutching the hole on his head. Her lips curled back in something that you might call a smile as she gave him a taunting look. Inuyasha raked his claws down her face furiously, gathering chunks of flesh beneath them. Blood gushed down her face practically blinding her. They would both have handicaps, not that that would stop them.

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Zitinou advanced on the pinned Kurama slowly, he wasn't going anywhere. Suddenly the ground began to shutter and groan beneath his feet. The weather demon stopped and looked at the floor under him. Lush green vines shot up through the ground and then through his body. His blood ran sluggishly down the plant and his eyes went wide with shock. Briefly. His cloud quickly reduced them to ash before causally advancing on Kurama once more. He knew the vines wouldn't stop him but it did give him a widow of opportunity. He was no longer trapped AND he had a plan. As soon as the lightning crackled down the vegetation, Kurama leaped into action. Something he noticed earlier was that Zitinou's personal cloud paused before switching to a different mode of precipitation. That pause would soon cost him dearly. At the exact moment the lightning stopped he placed two fingers on Zitinou's forehead while flipping over him.

Zitinou sneered. "Is that supposed to impress me?"

Kurama turned and took a fighting stance with an unyielding look in his eye. Zitinou took a step forward but stopped, his expression changed. It was a strange expression, under the dullness of his eyes a flicker of pure shock surfaced. His skin began to ripple like crashing waves at a beach. Various bodily liquids poured from his mouth then his ears and nose until eventually every pore of his body. He appeared to be shrinking rapidly both in height and in weight. Then he started to sway dangerously as if his legs could no longer hold him up. His eyes began to ooze out of his skull and run down his face in a thick white slime. His skin turned a dingy gray before completely collapsing. The skin was just a heap on the ground complete with its own pool of fluid. Healthy green vines emerged from what used to be his mouth and spread out over the fluid drinking it up greedily.

Kurama got out of his fighting stance and brushed off his clothes. "No, that was."

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Miroku leaped away from Syeaiki's fire. He grabbed the prayer beads with one hand and twirled his staff with the other. Syeaiki bore down on him, his flames burned more of the monks clothes. He squinted against the heat, trying to get ready for the perfect opportunity. As soon as he spotted it, he threw his prayer beads at the demon. The beads wrapped around him, locking away his spirit energy.

Syeaiki struggled for a while before giving up. "You may have been able to confine my powers but you can't confine my true form." He sprouted into a large white flame, his human like features lost.

Miroku hesitated for a moment before pulling away the beads from the material that covered his wind tunnel. The wind sucked up the fire, burning his tunnel. Most of the fire went out from the lack of oxygen. The monk covered his tunnel once more, amazed that the poisonous bees hadn't interfered. Then he fell to his knees, pain in his hand flared. His wind tunnel was seared and Syeaiki's fire was burning him from within.

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Kohaku swung his weapon at her again, aiming for a vital organ. Sango dodged again and then pivoted coming up behind him. She hooked his neck with her hiraikotsu, crushing his windpipe. She really didn't want to kill her kid brother. She was hoping he would just pass out from lack of oxygen. But there was no such luck, Kohaku reached over his head and behind her neck wrapping the chain end of his weapon around her throat and pulled tightly. Sango could feel her bones start to bend under the intense pressure. Naraku chuckled lowly, enjoying every minute of their melee.

Sango tried to give him a disgusted look but it was a painful grimace. "Release my brother."

To her surprise, the edges of Naraku's lips lifted slightly. "It would be my pleasure."

Kohaku let go of his weapon immediately, bringing his hands to his head.

"Kohaku, its okay."

Kohaku's eyes never left hers. "I killed them all. Everyone of them. There blood was on my hands. Dad-" he choked back a sob. "-dad died because of me. Don't even look at me." He turned his back to her.

"Don't talk that way Kohaku! I love you no matter what." She reached out to him.

He shrugged her hand off him. His shoulders wracked with held back sobs. "How can you love a monster like me? You have no idea what I did. Go away, don't stay here. Nothing but bad things with happen if you stay."

"No, I won't leave you. I love you and I want to help you."

He turned to face her. "If you want to help me you're going to have to kill me." He handed her his knife.

Her eyes filled with tears and she whispered, "I can't. Killing you is not the answer Kohaku."

"Kill me." He repeated. "You don't know what I'm capable of."

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Kagome squinted, trying to see through the curtain of blood. Finally she gave up and decided it was in her best interest to focus on hearing and smelling. She closed her eyes as her hair fanned out around her, feeling for her opponent. Inuyasha dodged the probing tendrils with ease, almost laughing at its patheticness. But she knew exactly where he was because she heard him move. She drew her Aisaiga quickly, pinning his foot to the ground keeping him in one spot. She launched herself at him, raking her claws down his body. Kagome ripped chunks of flesh off his bones, trying to literally tear him to pieces. Inuyasha growled in resentment and tore his foot from the ground. He grabbed her neck and started to crush it. Kagome struggled and kicked but could not get free. Darkness ebbed at her vision and she knew she was reaching her end.

Kagome was suddenly dropped on the ground. She rubbed her neck, trying to sooth the pain. Between the blood in her eyes and her near death experience, she couldn't see a thing. If she could see, she would see Sesshomaru standing between her and Inuyasha imposingly. His eyes were red with anger, a lesser man would have been practically foaming at the mouth with contempt.

Inuyasha's lips peeled back in a snarl. "Fuck off."

Sesshomaru's only answer to his command was to pull out his sword. Inuyasha practically snorted, as if he would be no match for him, and pulled out his sword, too. For a moment, all Kagome could do was perk her ears up to listen to the sound of metal clashing against metal. A few sparks burned holes threw her clothing and blood spattered against her face. Blood. Her pupils dilated and her nostrils flared. Sesshomaru's blood.

He wiped the cut on his cheek carelessly and flung the blood to the side. His blood stained hand turned an acid green. Sesshomaru grabbed Inuyasha's face and burned the left side of it. Inuyasha's face healed rapidly, forming a shiny scar. His left eye had healed shut and since his left ear was no longer attached to his head, his whole left side was vulnerable. Inuyasha turned his right side toward him and waited cautiously for his half brother's next move.

For a moment, they just stood there. Both red eyed and panting slightly with sweat trickling sluggishly down their brows. Sesshomaru was composed and alert while Inuyasha was agitated. His eyes kept sifting towards Kagome and Naraku. Growing tired of his inattention, Sesshomaru launched forward and slashed a cut on his cheek much like the one he just gave him. Then he pivoted to his blind side and cut into his torso. Inuyasha hissed and slashed wildly. He barely missed, a few strands of Sesshomaru's floated gracefully into the dirt.

He regarded the chunk of his missing hair with slight annoyance before turning his attention back to Inuyasha. Sesshomaru sliced his left arm off with one quick swipe. Inuyasha hissed in pain before chopping mindlessly at him. He dodged his blade easily and he was quickly growing tired of it. The lord swatted his half brother to the ground like a bug and lifted his sword.

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Ayame felt like fleeing but she knew that was not an option. Kyo tried to pry her off his back but she would not move. She smiled to herself, it seems as though the only thing he had power over was air. He possessed no physical strength at all. She clung on his back as she decided her next move. But then he did something unexpected. Kyo relaxed and she could almost feel the slight smile on his face.

"Do you want to watch him die?" He asked airily as if he had been discussing the weather. Kouga started to choke again. "Do you?"

Slowly, begrudgingly, she slid off his back. Kyo turned his eyes on her. Ayame sputtered and gasped desperately for air. Kouga grabbed his shoulder and jerked him around. Then he gauged out Kyo's eyes with his sharp claws. Ayame rubbed her sore chest with one hand and ripped out Kyo's throat with the other. The air demon's body disappeared and a whirlwind kicked up around them. Ayame backed up against Kouga as the walls closed in on them. Then suddenly the wind just died down leaving the two wolf demons bewildered.

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Miroku dropped to his knees and clutched his hand to his chest. He broke out into a sweat and panted. He looked up when a large breeze kicked up and saw Ayame and Kouga trapped in a whirlwind. The monk struggled to stand up. Each step he took was a chore but needed to help. But then the whirlwind died down out of no where making him sigh with relief. Slowly he turned but caught sight of Sango looming over her brother with a knife in hand. He tried to yell but his throat was dry. He coughed and tried again.

"S-sango!"

Her head snapped up. "Miroku! You're hurt!"

He tried to smile but it was more like a wince. "Do-don't worry about me. Just don't kill your brother."

Sango looked down at the knife in her hand. She wondered if she would have done it. If she could kill her brother. The answer would be yes, if you had asked her a few months ago but now it's different. He was still human, he was still her brother, and he was still not a lost cause. She believed that she could save him. "I would never have killed him." She turned to her brother. "I can't kill you. This isn't the answer. I can help some other way."

Kohaku looked at her with the deepest feelings of lament. "I did something horrible Sango."

"I know. It wasn't your fault. All is forgiven." She held out her hand to him.

He backed away. "You don't know what I'm talking about, sister. I'm not talking about killing everyone."

Her hand dropped to her side. "What are you talking about then?"

"It's my fault that they died."

She smiled and raised her hand again. "We are talking about the same thing then."

Kohaku shook his head. "I knew I was going to kill them. Naraku told me before we went to the village."

Sango didn't bother lowering her hand. She stood there as if frozen. "You knew."

Naraku's soft laugher filtered through the sounds of battle. "How does it feel Sango? How does it feel to know that you wrong about your brother? He betrayed you. Soon you'll learn you should have taken his life when you had the chance."

The ground began to rumble slightly and Sango got a sense of foreboding.

"I told you nothing but bad things with happen if you stayed." Kohaku murmured.

Sango became frantic. "What's happening?"

He shook his head dully, she could tell she was loosing him. "They're coming. It's my fault."

"Who? Who's coming?"

"They're coming." He said before his eyes slipped back to a hypnotic red.

Sango turned "Miroku! Someone's coming!"

Miroku grunted from his place on the ground. "What now?!"

A slow contemptuous laughed echoed from the shadows. "There's no need for alarm." Hiten stepped out of the castle to stand behind Naraku. "We just want to say hello."

Sango and Miroku looked at each other in obvious distress. Just who exactly 'we' include?

Flamez- Lifts eyebrow mysteriously Yes, who is we exactly? This chapter was really difficult to write because 1) I had been writing it on and off for a couple of weeks (DAMN YOU SIMS!) and 2) So much crap was going on at one time. I've got a project I've got to finish and turn in on the first day of school. Isn't school great? Eye twitch CAN'T A SISTA GET A FUCKING BREAK?!? $#(insert curse word of preference)!!!!!!


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